Like Young Gods
by Angel of Hunky-Doryness
Summary: **A Hercules Prequel 1920's AU** Eighteen is a huge milestone for anyone, but to Hades it's a way out from living under his father's thumb. So when two strangers from his past resurface with a plan to take down their father once and for all, Hades must decide whether to join them or cut his losses and burn his bridges and start anew.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, I had a lot of fun writing it, and who knows, once I finish Now Hiring, I might continue on with a sequel if this is well received.**

** I got the idea last Spring actually. Instead of paying attention in thermo class, I started coming up with a scenario of a Hades/Persephone AU set in the thirties that coincided with events like the dust bowl and the great depression that happened in the US. It wasn't until I stumbled upon some amazing fanart that I got really excited about the idea, but as I was analyzing my old ideas for the project, I began to visit many members from one side of my family that I had not seen for several years thanks to drama and just general nonsense that happened when I was a child. It wasn't until I saw my dad, the youngest of nine, reunite his oldest brother- who is actually his cousin- (yeah it's complicated) that I realized I wanted to work on the brotherly aspect of the big three. **

**You may or may not like it, the mythology was fun to manipulate for world-building all this, but I am honestly open to any sort of criticism on this or suggestions of any sort. I have an original project of my own that is in this time frame so some practice was needed and what better way than Disney Hercules?**

**Rated T for minor language and suggestive themes. You've read the mythos, you know what's up.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters belonging to Disney's Hercules, nor have I ever claimed to own them. My ideas, bad OOC moments, and awful comedy are all my own.**

**You have been warned.**

* * *

_"Leave your stepping stones behind there, something calls for you_  
_Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you_  
_The vagabond who's rapping at your door_  
_Is standing in the clothes that you once wore_  
_Strike another match, go start anew_  
_And it's all over now, Baby Blue."_

_\- "It's all Over Now, Baby Blue," by Bob Dylan_

* * *

If there was one thing he couldn't stand when he traveled by sewers, it was the smell. That awful putrid stink that was mixed together with human excrement, backwash, and a number of other liquids that mixed in with the waters they brought in from out of state to provide clean water for all the denizens of the Big Apple. Even in times during the Great War, as the tabloids called it; this city still managed to make a poor man just a tad bit richer.

Holding aloft the lantern, Hades treaded lightly along the thin walkway as the septic green water flowed freely away from the direction he was going. Down here it was muggy and unusually humid even for August, and if it wasn't for the cap he wore atop his head, he would have felt the condensation from the pipes above him drip down atop his head. He had half a mind to turn back and take the nap he was so desperately in need of, but every day around noon time he was forced to go visit the three homeless ladies that his father relentlessly kept an eye on. He never understood what was the appeal about the three blind, toothless women, nor why he always insisted that he delivered the bottle of moonshine to them, but if it meant he wasn't beaten within an inch of his life, hey, he'd do anything he said.

It was then that a yawn began to escape from his mouth, sending a wave of drowsiness down his entire frame. Now even his mind was under the spell of his exhaustion, and once his mind was out, his body would soon fall with it. _No_, he _needed_ to deliver the moonshine. Hades began to slap his face, in a way to keep himself awake. A part of him wanted to blame his nightly hangouts with Leuce for his tiredness, but even he knew his daily exhaustion was worth being able to see her. Everybody needed a reason to keep on going, keep on living until he was no longer a minor. _Thirty-three days_\- that's all he needed until he was free. No, _they_ were free, he mentally corrected himself.

With that thought in mind, Hades' tired brain reconsidered the idea of going to take a nap again.

He had a small little base around here, one of several he had littered about the city, and the temptation to go take a nap in one of them was growing stronger by the second. Hades stared longingly in the direction of his little hole, and back to the bottle of moonshine in his hands.

Eh, what could it hurt? Kronos trusted him enough by now to go without his brutish uncles breathing down his neck. Just a couple more weeks of bearing through it, and he'd be gone on the first train out of here. Plus, he could always give it to them later in the day- what could a couple hours hurt? Hades' tired steps had already begun to tread along the path to his hideout before he even decided to go. Ugh, what the hell?

_It's not like a bottle of Lethe was that important._

* * *

Home at last.

All that time gone and he still recognized the city as the ship sailed ever closer. To see its outline over the morning fog as Lady Liberty welcomed him home. Yes, he knew this place better than the back of his hand- perhaps, even better than the ship he'd been sailing on for the past nine months. This was, after all, the city of his childhood, _though it wasn't a very happy one_, he thought with a grimace.

How long had it been, anyhow? Nearly nine years, now?

Poseidon stared long and hard at the letter in his hands and then back down at the metallic ramp that led off the ship and back onto _terra firma_. His fellow crewmen were already disembarked and mingling with the crowd, reuniting with parents, wives, children, siblings, but him?

His weary sea green eyes glanced, but did not envy them. It may have been his home, but that didn't mean he was welcome here. The less people knew he was here, the better, so as to not draw attention to himself, Poseidon disappeared into the crowd. That was the nice thing about this place being a station for many sailors, he could blend nicely in.

Now, the address he was looking for was something he recognized, but it would seem that his time of being gone from the Big Apple had taken a toll on the sailor. _Well_, Poseidon chuckled, tucking away the crumpled letter into the front pocket of his uniform, _not a bad one_. Not for forgetting, mind you, but because of the memories that stirred every step he took on that dirt road past the people as they fumbled about the ever bustling city that never slept.

As carriages and Ford Model T's rumbled past him with shouting passengers and wagons towed their wares to nearby stands selling all sorts of commodities. From every stand he could hear a range of maybe ten or eleven different languages being spoken. This city was truly a beacon for many cultures; something his Greek ancestors used to hold the title of back in ancient times.

Everyone had their own story of how they got here, why they immigrated to this city in particular; all for a new chance at life. That was how Grandma Gaia ended up here, pregnant and alone, running away from home after falling in love with some unknown stranger. She got on board a ship headed to the states and never looked back. Somehow she met an American Greek, his step-grandfather, who owned a small factory that produced steel. Together the two of them created eight more children, and thus their miserable clan was created.

No, that was cruel to think. His grandmother was a saint, his mother a literal angel, but his father. Yes, his father was what created the true misery of the clan. Every day he thought of him since he had run away. Not that he wanted the bitter memory of his father to haunt him, no, that was because Kronos was hunting him down. Sixteen months on the run before eighteen hit and he enlisted in the Navy.

Safe at last under the protection of the government. A sentiment very rarely shared.

Poseidon paused his gait and gazed up at the old rinky-dink sign that labeled the street name. On the corner of Crete street was an old, crumbling, brown brick apartment building. He had vague memories of this place when it was in better shape, but even then that wasn't saying much. There were several other apartment buildings lining this street, but this one was by far the oldest, and the one he was most familiar with. His mother used to drag him here to see the old goat who lived here with her aging grandchildren. _Old friends_, she'd call them as they rushed out of Liturgy service whenever he complained about their weekly visits.

_They weren't even family_, he always whined as they walked two miles just to see "Aunt" Amalthea. But _Philia_, she assured him was a bond equivalent to that of _Storge _since friendship is a family formed by choice_. _

Yet as the years passed it began to dawn on Poseidon why Rhea seemed to pay attention to the youngest "grandchild" of Amalthea, and that grandchild was currently rushing down the external metal staircase of the building.

"_Zeus_!" Poseidon felt a boyish laugh erupt from inside of him at the sight of his older brother. All the unease he felt seemed to vanish like the fog over the sea after the sun broke out on the horizon. Scrambling to the side of the apartment, Poseidon waited with open arms as Zeus jumped down from the final staircase.

_"__Poseidon!" _

The sailor did a double take at this familiar stranger in front of him. Man, time really does change a person, doesn't it? Gone was the lanky, youthful face of his brother to the broad-shouldered, masculine form he now possessed.

In his moment of hesitation, Zeus enveloped his brother in a warm embrace, an action Poseidon was quick to return. The two of them began to laugh, holding onto each other in a tight hug. Neither one of them fully comprehending that they were reunited at last as they began to spin around in their brother's embrace. They clapped each other on the back, waiting for the other to release the hug, but they did not want it to end. They'd been apart for so long, they never thought they'd see each other again. _Not in this world at least_.

It was with this thought in mind that their laughter soon subsided into tears. The paths they took to escape, to run away from the life their father had planned for them. They did not want that life, and the only person who understood that was their brother.

But they were not complete just yet.

So overcome with dizziness from spinning, Zeus became unbalanced, and soon, the two of them toppled over into the dirt. The two of them fell with a thud, and now that they were untangled, the two of them stared face to face looking at the brother they once knew so fondly.

"So, you've grown a beard, I see," Poseidon chuckled at his brother's short white beard.

"And I see the Navy won't let _you_ keep yours," Zeus quipped, earning a light-hearted punch to the arm.

"Hey," Poseidon chuckled. "I gotta shave _twice_ a day to hide my- well, _y'know_…" Poseidon began to drift off as he did an instinctual swab of his chin.

Zeus' merriness began to subdue as he began to remember one of the letters his brother had sent him, the _second to last one_, he thought. "So it's true then?"

"Better believe it," Poseidon half-heartedly shrugged as he rose to his feet. "I mean, hey, _I_ couldn't even believe it when my eighteenth birthday hit. I'm a literal fish out of water, but I've kept my secret this long."

"I can't imagine it," Zeus took Poseidon's outstretched hand and lifted himself to his feet.

"Well, not entirely, I got a girl now. We're getting married if she don't run off with her sisters again." Poseidon took out his wallet, and flashed him a picture of his fiancee and him when they were out at the beach.

"Well, I'm getting married too," Zeus triumphantly exclaimed.

"Finally!" Poseidon chuckled. "Poor Metis been waiting this l-" The sailor felt his words begin to dry upon his tongue at the somber expression his brother wore. "Ugh, me and my big mouth, I'm sorry- _Hera_, right?"

"Hm," Zeus simply nodded. "Metis- she passed the first year I was on the run."

Poseidon mentally berated himself. He could be so air-headed sometimes. "Geez, I didn't know- wha-what happened?"

"Childbirth, Amalthea said, but I don't think so. Our father's spies are _everywhere," _Zeus' forget-me-not colored eyes began to scan the alley they were in and at the road in front of them. "Speaking of which, they probably have this place on watch let's head inside."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa," Poseidon firmly stood his ground as his brother began to clap him on the back, gesturing him toward the staircase. "Demeter's up there, isn't she? You mentioned her taking you in an earlier letter." For two weeks, Zeus had been living here with his daughter ever since Amalthea insisted that they do so once she found out her adopted child was back in town. Demeter just so happened to be staying here as well, taking care of the aging woman, and the way Zeus had written him about Amalthea's health it wasn't looking good.

"Oh, Po-po, she's been settled for years now, she's even going to have a baby soon. You're going to _love_ her husband he's the nicest guy- not that _I_ had a hand in getting them together, or anything," Zeus suavely strummed his suspenders with his thumbs.

"Humph," Poseidon groaned. A small sting of regret began to poke at him, but he tried not to think about it. He knew they were done for, the moment he decided to run without telling her. They were young anyhow, the type of love they shared was more of a passing fling, a childhood romance, one of the purest loves around. "Well, I don't want to see her, right now, we got things to do anyhow and we shouldn't beat around the barnacles anymore."

"You're right, but at least meet Athena," Zeus begged his brother. "She's wanted to meet her uncle Po-po for so long."

"C'mon bro, y'know I'm not going up there," Poseidon began to protest, but it would seem Zeus had other ideas as he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out to his daughter.

"_Athena_!"

The thundering sound of her father calling her startled Athena into action. Soon enough a small lavender face crowned with cerulean curls peaked her head out of a third story window. Her serene face became slightly amused at the sight of her father waving his arms wildly to get her attention, but her piercing grey eyes were soon caught by the sailor in his navy blue uniform.

"Hey, darling, come down here and meet your uncle!"

The six year old observed her teal-skinned uncle who began to half-heartedly wave at her with his sailor hat. "Hey there, angelfish!"

Athena seemed unimpressed at the sight of her pudgy uncle and stuck out her tongue at him before she pulled herself back inside and closed the window shut.

Shock and surprise painted Poseidon's features as he fixed his brother with a confused gaping mouth. "Hey, what did I do to her?"

"Oh, she'll come around. Now, _c'mon_," Zeus began to pull him away with strides too long for Poseidon to keep up with. "This isn't a true reunion just _yet_."

"Hey, we going to get lunch or something? I'm starved!" Poseidon huffed, trying to match pace with his brother. Jeez, sure, he was in the Navy, but walking on land after nine months was a hard adjustment for him. He wasn't kidding when he said he was a literal fish out of water!

"We'll eat _after_ we fetch our baby brother. Today's his birthday y'know," Zeus wagged a triumphant finger as they turned the corner and found themselves on a street of ill-repute.

Though it was still daytime, Poseidon still felt on edge as they began to practically waltz down Skid Row. Sketchy characters all around, many wearing clothes with one too many holes. Not one child was on the street, not even accompanying their mothers, and if that was any indication of the level of threat this particular part of town, what else could there be? "No, his birthday's in September."

"Not according to this," Zeus procured out an envelope from his the inside of his tan suit jacket and handed it to his brother.

"Where on Gaia's green earth did you get this?!" Poseidon's eyes widened as he beheld their baby brother's birth certificate. He continued to quickly scan through it, but with a quick glance at the passerby's around them, the sailor quickly enclosed the document and handed it back to Zeus.

"Mother had many secrets, but she left clues scattered for us to find," Zeus paused momentarily as he took a newspaper from a boy wandering the street selling them. Flipping a quarter to the child, the broad man took one look at the headline and stepped off to the side, waiting for Poseidon to stand by him. "_That_ was _one_ thing I found on my travels," his eyes peaked over the top of the newspaper, scanning the street.

"Yeah right," Poseidon may have been on the more slow-witted side, but his brother's personality had not changed much, wiser, more confidant yes, but whenever he was vague, that was when he was hiding something. "I know Metis worked for the government as a receptionist. She broke into the public records for you didn't she?"

Zeus felt a small groan erupt in his throat. "Yes, alright, but who helped get her that job, hmm?"

Poseidon huffed. "Ma was just trying to repay the favor to the old goat. I just don't see why you're so caught up on the birthday thing. So Ma lied about when he was born. She may have just forgotten to report the birth, she had him at home- not a hospital."

"That's fair," Zeus considered the possibility for a moment, but a resounding idea came into focus. "The dates may be off, but our father was _obsessed_ with clocks- with _time_. What if she did it to catch him off guard?"

"I don't see where you're going with this. Both in this conversation and _where_ we're headed," Poseidon lamented, taking note of the dwindling number of people. The few who were wandering around on this street were becoming less and less friendly by the block, and the number of homeless that littered the street was not exactly the kind of place he was expecting to go on his first day back in the Big Apple. "Great Aunt Nyx's house isn't over here, she's on the nice side of Queens, living atop Erebus' Jewelers.

"I know," Zeus abruptly began to walk away, practically leaving his brother in the dust, throwing the newspaper up to shield his face. "But Hades is not under her protection anymore. _Hasn't_ been for as long as we've been gone."

"_What_?!" Poseidon made a grab for Zeus' arm and pulled him back. "But Ma," the sailor's breath became hitched with emotion. "She made _sure_ he was safe. She only visited them at night- at family gatherings, she took extra steps to keep him off our father's radar. "

"You really think our father didn't connect the dots? The visits, the special treatment she had of me?" Zeus' voice became unusually solemn, and the way his eyes flashed a haunted look full of memories that were imprinted into him struck the sailor to his core. "Hades is his spitting image. Why do you think _Kronos_," the very mention of his name brought chills up both brother's spines, "Tried to kill us- his _sons_\- his heirs to his crooked kingdom?"

Poseidon's mouth gaped, flopping like a fish that had bellied onto the deck of a ship, gasping for breath. "I- I-"

"Because he had a replacement. Someone he could still mold into his image."

"We left our brother in the hands of that _monster _for _nine_ years?" Poseidon felt fury like the crashing of waves upon the rocks near the sea shore during a hurricane. Nearby the closest manhole was set rocketing into the air as a column of water erupted from the sewers.

"We were _children_, even at eighteen I, still knew nothing," Zeus gripped his brother's shoulder, calming him down instantly, and soon enough the manhole that was spouting water began to subside its gushing. "_That's_ why I called you here. Why I came back; because we're going to put a stop to our father once and for all. We have to save our brother."

"And what if he's too far gone?" Poseidon simpered as fresh tears began to fall down his face.

Zeus grabbed Poseidon in a one armed embrace, wrapping his arm around his shoulder, guiding him on. "No one's ever really gone. If he's anything like us, he'll be too stubborn to follow blindly."

Poseidon chuckled at the idea. "And if he's anything like you, he'll come up with some barnacle-brained idea to take our father down."

"Oh, but if he's anything like _us_," Zeus knowingly winked. "He'll have a long string of broken hearts-"

"And just as many children to boot," Poseidon chimed in with a loud pronouncing laugh which Zeus began to join in. "So where is the little crab hiding anyway? I hope you didn't bring us all this way for nothing, but a good excuse to jab."

"You forget while you've been busy taking your time to meet me here, I've been investigating our baby brother's whereabouts."

"Did you speak to Great Aunt Nyx?" Poseidon suggested.

"She was the first person I spoke to, but she doesn't speak much English, and I've been out of practice," Zeus explained despite the sheepishness he felt by admitting the loss of his first language.

"So you could say it's all Greek to you, huh?" Poseidon quipped.

Zeus felt the rumblings of laughter burst out of him much to his own surprise. "Ha! I guess you could say it is…"

The two of them began to laugh at the absurdness of their joke when suddenly three, shrill cackles began joining in with them. Zeus and Poseidon froze, a strange feeling of dread began to make the teeth in their jaws chatter by the sheer eeriness of that noise.

"Don't stop laughing on our account," an ancient voice spoke behind them.

"We haven't heard that one in centuries," another voice joined in, this one a tad bit more gravelly than the previous one.

"Not since our days back in the Senate," the lowest pitch of the three agreed.

The brothers shared a look, they didn't know why, but something about the collection of voices was oddly familiar to them. Not from this life, no, something far, _far_ older indeed.

Zeus shakily turned around to face the three homeless women who were perched on the stairs of an abandoned building. All three of them appeared to be haggard and blind, and maybe even toothless underneath their raggedy old blankets. They meant no harm, but the sight of them made the man feel sympathetic to their plight.

"It was funny, wasn't it?" Zeus finally spoke, breaking the brother's silence. Reaching into one of his pockets, the man fished out any spare change he had and tossed it into the metal can they had placed at the bottom of the stairs.

"After all this time, you are still generous after everything you've lost."

"Isn't that right, Mr. Olympia?" The smallest of the three hags cackled, a sound that reminded him of nails sliding down a chalkboard.

Both Zeus and Poseidon felt their skins blanch. How could three blind ladies possibly know who they were?

"Who are you?" Poseidon let go of his cowardice and approached the three hags.

"That's a question _you_ should be asking, Lord Poseidon," the crackly ancient hags exclaimed in unison.

_They were blind!_ Poseidon mentally screamed. What powers on earth even allowed them to know who they were? If they had met them when they were children, their voices would have changed since the last time they were in the city, so how could the hags recognize them?

"We need to get out of here," Zeus clapped his brother on his back, signaling for him to follow, but the three hags stopped them with their chilling voices.

"Your secret is safe with us."

"How can we trust you?" Zeus pushed past his brother and bent down on his knees to whisper to the hags.

The three hags began cackle once more at the man's ridiculous question. No one should ever trust Fate- not with their lives anyway. _"Down below us you will find, the boy who's future is intertwined to the father you seek to undermine."_

"What are you talking about?" Zeus felt felt his heart begin to pump so hard he felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He began to shake, and he briefly wondered if anyone could see whether or not crackles of energy fizzing about his form, he certainly could feel them buzzing off of him.

"They gotta be fortune tellers, or some- _yow_!" Poseidon yelped as a stray shock smacked him in the face.

But Zeus was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to consider Poseidon as he fell down the stairs. "What do you mean his future is intertwined with our father's? Is he destined to die?! To _what_?" He demanded, but the three hags seemed to be smirking at him underneath the layers of blankets that covered them despite the heat wave the city was experiencing from the summer season.

_"Not all will be set in stone, for love in any form can all atone."_

Zeus fell silent, his questions drying up like a land deprived of water for so long after a small shower. "Are you sure of this?"

"By the time you bring us back our eye, you'll see for yourself," the oldest, and most gravelly of the three warned.

"Your eye?"

"It was stolen from us by your father- now go!" All three of them somehow managed to point at the manhole that laid in front of the old building.

Though he was still shaken by the hag's words, the man simply nodded, grabbed his fallen brother, and ran to the manhole like his life depended on it.

* * *

"You know what I want to know?" Poseidon grumbled as they lifted the manhole out of the middle of the road. The two of them gripped either side of it and as soon as it was removed, they set it down near the hole that led into the sewers.

"Now, brother, this is no time to complain," Zeus hoisted himself over the hole as he began to lower himself into the depths.

"Who said I'm complaining about sullying my government issued uniform?" Poseidon closely followed Zeus down the manhole, but lingered at the surface to fit the manhole over the hole, submerging them into complete darkness. "No, what I wanna know is where you're getting your sources from? Like those creepy old hags- that was out of the blue, sure, but how did ya know to come someplace out in the Styx?"

From his pocket Zeus took out a lightbulb and held it aloft, casting light upon the dampened walls around them. "You talk to people enough, you start making friends," Zeus vaguely exclaimed as he began to shimmy down the thin walkway. His large broad shoulders and body were making it hard for him to walk properly. Something, Poseidon was forced to adopt as well.

"What kinda friends we talking 'bout here?" Poseidon pressed with a slight note of annoyance.

"There's a cop that patrols this area. Awfully short fellow, but a good and kind man once you get past his ornery manner of speech."

"Can we trust the cops, though?"

"Probably not," Zeus admitted with a note of wistfulness. "But it doesn't hurt to try, and if I get ratted out- who's going to remember my face? This beard," he began to stroke his white whiskers, "Serves as a form of identity protection."

"Huh, never took you for an over-thinker."

"It's what survival does to a man," Zeus flatly offered.

Poseidon jumped as his eye briefly caught the sight of a giant rat streaking across the other side of the waterway, but at least he was leaning heavily against the stone wall, preventing him from falling into the murky water. "Man, I'm having a bad case of the creeps. You sure he's down here?" The sailor shivered uneasily. He was beginning to have second thoughts about this whole mission after their encounter with the three hags and just being here down in the rank sewers. At this point he was having second thoughts about skipping dinner at Demeter's place.

"We're getting close now, I can feel it."

"Huh, _sure_," Poseidon sarcastically quipped.

But just as Zeus predicted, the stone wall they were shimmying along had a small gap, revealing a small passageway lined with large metallic pipes larger than tree trunks. Zeus felt a victorious grin erupt across his face. "See, what did I tell ya? I bet he's right in there," He gestured at the door that was located at the end of the passageway.

"This is getting way too easy," Poseidon mumbled with a groan, leaning against one of the many pipes, but as he put more of his weight along them, they began to gradually give way. Using the faint light from the lightbulb, Zeus was still currently holding, Poseidon carefully inspected the pipes that bended underneath his weight.

After living aboard a ship, one becomes awfully familiar with the many inner workings, especially when he was in charge of making sure the ship was in tip-top shape. Someone had clearly noticed that the pipes along here were no longer in use and had begun to saw away sections in the pipes, but not all the way in order to give the illusion that there was nothing out of the ordinary. Yet why would that be, when a wall should be behind them?

_He needed more light._

"Wait a second- hey, Zeus!" He called out to his brother to get his attention, but the man was currently trying to open the door, but to no avail.

Zeus began to rear his leg back in order to break down the door, but stopped himself at the call of his name. "Yes?"

"I think I found a secret passageway _in_ the secret passageway," Poseidon announced as he stuck his hand into the hole. He could feel a wind down here. Another tunnel, closer to the surface?

"Let me see," Zeus crouched down to look inside the hole, sticking the lightbulb down inside it to get a better view.

Soon enough, now that there was light, a small little burrow was tucked away neatly for all to see and there in the middle of it all was a makeshift hammock where a slumbering Hades was tucked away with a hat obscuring his face.

"By thunder, _Hades_?!" Zeus shouted louder than he wanted to, and in his excitement the lightbulb exploded in his hand.

If the shout wasn't enough to rouse him from his deep slumber, it was the sound of glass cracking and flying everywhere that did him in. Yet he couldn't move as the puppies that were slumbering along with him in the hammock began to yowl and crawl atop him, and now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure one of them just peed on him.

"Oh flaming hell!" Hades instinctively picked up two of the squirming creatures by the scruff and set them down on the floor, leaving the last one to roll around in the hammock as the young man jumped out and pulled out a knife on his intruders.

"Hey, I don't want any trouble here," he waved the knife threateningly, but in the darkness he couldn't see a thing, and it was quite apparent by the tremble in his voice that he was not prepared to fight.

"Poseidon, light a match!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," his brother frantically began to search through his many pockets until he successfully fished out a pack of matches.

Hades felt the knife in his hand lower slightly at the mention of that name.

_Po-po?_

The sound of a match fizzling into life soon became a roar as light once again washed upon the brothers. Zeus was the first to jump into the burrow, and with a single move snatched the knife out of Hades' stunned hand and threw it behind him.

"Oh Hades, baby brother, just look at ya!" Zeus' beefy arms shot out and squished his brother against his chest before the boy could even react, squeezing every ounce of breath out of him. A low, annoyed groan escaped out of him as Zeus continued to embrace him, popping all the vertebrae in his spine in the process.

Soon enough, Poseidon jumped down into the burrow and used the last light of the match to locate a lantern that was tucked in the corner of the room. Once the lantern was lit, Poseidon joined in on the embrace, successfully trapping their baby brother on either side. "Now, don't forget me!"

"Let go of me!" Hades squirmed in their grasp until they finally released him. "Whaddya trying to do to me?! Smother me to death?!"

"Oh let me have a look at yeah!" Poseidon spun him around to his face.

Hades was ready to protest, but shock and confusion paralyzed his movements as he began to process what was going on. Staring down at the shorter, pudgier sailor in front of him, distant memories of a thinner face began to resurface, but those sea green eyes had not changed one bit even as tears began to spring in them.

"Lay off, what the hell are you two do even doing here?!" The young man brushed off Poseidon's hands along his shoulders.

"Why, we're here to see you!" Zeus proclaimed with honest sincerity.

Hades scoffed, his long angular face twisting into a deadpan expression. "Yeah? Little late for that, huh? Well, since you two figured out how to get down here, I think ya got enough grey matter between the two of ya to walk yourselves out."

"Now, Bro-bro," Poseidon used the old nick-name he used to call him. "We really tried to come back sooner, but we always assumed Great Aunt Nyx would take care of you."

"She did- _lot_ more than you two or ma ever did," Hades snapped with an under current of bitterness.

"Now, don't go decrying mother that way, Hades," Zeus cut in, defensively. "She did everything she could to protect you."

"And that worked out peachy, didn't it? I mean first ma got dragged away to the nut house, and then you two disappeared. I wasn't even _ten_ yet! The fact I've made it this long shows I can survive without you two bozos crashing into my life!"

"We're not trying to crash in, we're trying to help you, baby brother!" Zeus thundered.

"Stop calling me that! You lost that privilege the minute you walked out of my _life_!"A part of Hades felt a strange prickling sensation go through him, but he ignored it as well as the the tiny purple sparks that were beginning to form on Zeus' tightly clenches fists.

This was a detail Poseidon noticed first. "Alright, break it up you two!" The sailor stepped between the two of them, pushing them apart before fists began to fly. "We didn't come here to fight, bro-bro."

Hades snorted. "Could'a fooled me."

Zeus took a deep breath, bowing his head in order to control the fury that was boiling in his veins. After a few seconds of silence, the man opened his mouth in agreement, "Poseidon's right. This is supposed to be a happy day. The three of us are reunited once more." Zeus' hands gripped each of his brother's shoulders. "And the last of us becomes a man today," he squeezed Hades' shoulder more tightly.

"You need to keep up with current events, Zeusy, it's still August," Hades quipped.

"Oh? You haven't heard?" Poseidon's grin became impossibly wide as he elbowed his younger brother in the ribs.

Hades' face became that of annoyance as he stared bemusedly at the crazed mariner. "Exactly how many albatrosses have you killed to get you to this point?"

"Haha, very _funny_…" Poseidon sarcastically laughed.

"-Hades, you were not born in September like we were led to believe. In fact," Zeus retrieved the envelope from the inside of his jacket and handed it to the young man who snatched it out of his grasp.

Shaky hands began to tear away the envelope, ripping out the yellowed sheet, hiding within. A strange familiar sensation began to rise within him once again, but he pushed it down as anticipation swelled within his bones.

"From here on forth and forevermore you are a free man."

Hades felt himself back away in a daze, inching farther and farther away from the lantern's reach, shrouding him in the shadows of his brothers as his backside connected with the hammock. The pup that was still inside was picked up and set in his lap as Hades half-stood, half-sat on the edge of the hammock, staring blankly at the piece of paper. Absentmindedly he petted the pup underneath its neck as it pressed his head into his stomach and began to whine, demanding attention.

Soon enough its littermates on the ground sought the attention as well as they began to tug at Hades' shoelaces. After moments of stunned silence, Hades gaze locked onto Zeus, his face changing like the turn of a dial all of a sudden becoming skeptical. "You're bluffing. Any Joe Schmo can doctor up one of these documents with the right price, meaning which you two need something out of me."

"We most certainly are not," Zeus proclaimed with a note of annoyance in his tone. "We can prove it!"

"Yeah!" Poseidon agreed, but the sailor began to backtrack as he processed his brother's words. "Wait, we can?"

_"You can?"_ Hades cocked an amused eyebrow at the circus display in front of him. If he didn't know any better it was like these two were not tuned to the other's quirks. That was a weird observation considering these two used to see each other all the time, and the fact they were much closer in age compared to him. You'd think the bond would be greater, so why not? They ran away together on the same day, he should know he watched them go. So why were they acting like they knew each other so well?

"Yes, Poseidon, we _can_," Zeus released a sigh. Casually lifting his hand, the man had his index finger raised and extended as he poked Poseidon in-between the ribs, sending a small electric shock coursing through him.

Poseidon yelped in pain. "_Youch_! Zeus that _hurt_!"

"Oh don't be such a baby, that was less voltage than lighting a lightbulb."

"_It still hurt_," Poseidon whimpered.

"What are you two even on?" Hades shared a quick look with the pup in his lap before he returned his attention to the strange interchange between his two older brothers.

"What we are trying to say is that we have powers," Zeus began again, this time ignoring Poseidon's unamused expression "We don't know how or where they come from, but we know they are hereditary and that they seem to activate on our eighteenth birthday. For myself, I have the ability to-"

"_Shock people to death_," Poseidon grumbled under his breath.

"Alright, I apologize!" Zeus muttered in a lower tone, his eyes began to glint a dangerous violet as they met Poseidon's.

Poseidon cheekily grinned. "Why, thank you, big bro," but his demeanor transformed into that of a somber wariness he didn't think was possible for such a jovial chubby man. "What Zeus is saying may sound crazy. I thought it was too, but when I turned eighteen my whiskers finally came in- only thing was it wasn't hair growing on my face, but a fin."

Hades blinked and looked at the reader in utter confusion, wondering if he had just heard that correctly. "_Right_," the young man's grin twisted into a smirk, "and I can talk to dogs."

Picking up on his sarcasm, Zeus began to shake his head. "Hades, please take this serious-"

"You _can_?!" Poseidon interrupted Zeus, not fully comprehending his baby brother's quick wit. The sailor began to bubble over with excitement and picked up one of the pups that were tugging at Hades' shoelaces. "Tell me, what is this one saying, right now?!" He proceeded to extend out the small pup to Hades' deadpanned face, completely unfazed even as the pup licked him on the nose.

"_I'll_ spare you the insult," Hades rolled his eyes at his brother's gullibility. His gaze switched over to the document he still held in his hand and back at his brothers. Whether or not his brothers were telling the truth, he knew the seal on this paper was something that was hard to reproduce. Which meant if it was fake or not it could work to his advantage if he played his cards correctly.

"Huh?" Poseidon blinked in confusion, but when he noticed Zeus trying to cover up his grin, the sailor began realize his mistake and put the pup back on the ground, allowing it to resume playing with his baby brother's shoes. "Oh you're a real wise guy y'know that?"

"It makes life just a tad more bearable," Hades' face didn't even twitch.

Zeus made a small thoughtful noise in the back of his throat as he began to stroke his beard. "Whether or not you believe us about the powers, you should keep an eye out for any kind of strange coincidences or circumstances. My first time, I nearly burned down Central Park. Course that was almost nine years ago."

For the first time in this conversation, Hades felt a strange chill go up his spine. He actually remembered that event. Remembered that very raging storm that came from nowhere as the skies darkened and the winds began to rage as the clouds above began to grow alight with fury. The way the thunder rolled and lightning flashed was forever imprinted in his memory; to this day he'd never seen a storm like it, but the more he thought of it, the more the memories he repressed began to rumble back in.

"And then you ran, yeah," Hades exclaimed. "I remember that part."

Zeus' face fell into a sympathetic look. He should have expected this kind of reaction from Hades. If he were in his shoes, watching your older brothers abandon you wasn't exactly the best memory to have carrying around with you, especially when it was your last memory of them. They had never even sent him letters, he was alone all that time, a truly abandoned child.

That was when the words from the hags began to float into his ears. He would not allow Hades to fall into despair. They were back, and here they were to stay. His baby brother may be difficult at first, but over time, he was sure he could lower his walls. After all you never give up on family.

"But we came back," Zeus reminded him.

"A lapse in judgment I'm sure."

"And we need your help," Poseidon added.

"For what? Planning your funerals? Kronos is not going to be happy to see you two waltzing around _his_ town. He's already mad enough having me around, can't imagine with you bozos."

Zeus and Poseidon shared a look, the kind of which any person observing them already knew exactly what they were going to say, but were surprised by it anyway.

"We are going to topple our father's empire."

Hades' eyes grew large, but it was not surprise that painted his face, it was fear. "You guys are full of _meshuggah."_

_"_We've tried running, Hades, but he always comes back. Do you know why we've decided to come back? Why now?"

Unease began to prickle down Hades' arms as goosebumps erupted across his skin. Even the dogs playing with his shoelaces paused as if to hear what Zeus had to say.

"My adopted sister, Demeter, she doesn't know it yet, but her husband, Iasion, is not trying to purchase land like he told her. He is very much on the _run;_ same as Poseidon and I_. _He contacted me three months ago saying he found something that will surely get him killed. Before you ask, he is a regular man, an extremely ordinary kind man, he just has a penchant for sniffing for trouble, and what he found may shock you. You see he used to own a grocery shop-"

Hades briefly wondered if that was an intentional pun. He felt like he wasting his time here listening to his two brothers going on and on about some kind of magical nonsense crap but the more he thought of what this document could do for him, fake or not, could very well get him a ticket out of here.

_He could leave today._

That single, wondrous thought spiraled inside of him bringing up the limitless possibilities. He needed to find Leuce, let her know immediately, and get them the hell out of town, but what was he going to do with these two bozos? He couldn't just have them follow him, if he was caught just being in the same location as these two would prove to be unfortunate and could possibly get him killed, or worse Leuce killed, a fact he didn't even want to consider. It was then his eye caught something shining. Right where he had tucked it away, the shining bottle of moonshine, lovingly called Lethe was sitting, waiting to be drunk by the three homeless ladies who lived directly above here.

An awful idea began to grow in his head. How else was he going to get rid of them?

"Hey, hey, hey, y'know let's talk about this later," Hades interrupted his brother. "I say we celebrate," he grabbed the bottle of moonshine and waved it in front of his brothers. "I'm a man today, right? Well how about we drink up?"

Poseidon's eyes lit up at the sight of booze. Any sailor, if he was a good one, always had time to down a pint or four. "Why, I believe our baby brother has made an excellent point," the sailor moved to Hades' side and was already moving to open the bottle.

"Now, Poseidon, this is not the time to imbibe," Zeus warned.

"Oh, c'mon Zeusy," Hades' grin suddenly became more crooked. "How about one swallow- y'know, for my birthday," his oily tongue upped the charm by wrapping his arm around Zeus and stealing the bottle from Poseidon's grasp.

Zeus fixed his gaze on Hades' pleading face. "Oh alright, one swallow."

Poseidon and Hades both released a whoop of cheer.

"Alright! Now that's what I like to hear!" Hades began to unscrew the cap and pressed the bottle to his closed lips. There was no way he was going to take a sip of this moonshine. He'd seen what Lethe did to those old hags after years of visiting them daily. Every time he left, they couldn't even remember their own names. Funnily enough, after all these years, they never had the sense to tell him their names.

The young man passed the bottle to Poseidon who took a long swig. "Huh, it tastes… Uh what am I tasting?" The sailor absentmindedly took another swig.

"Hey, only _one_ swallow, Poseidon," Zeus snatched the bottle from him. "To you, Hades, may our mission be a successful one," he gave his baby brother a nod before he pressed the bottle in his lips. In a single subtle motion, Hades lifted the bottle from the end, sending more of the moonshine down his oldest brother's throat than he intended.

Zeus blinked in bemusement as he blankly looked around the little burrow. His eyes staring through Hades. "Where am I?" The oldest brother asked, and without noticing, the bottle slipped from his hand in his daze, cracking the container on the floor which sent the liquid spilling everywhere.

Hades smirked. "Well, boys I'd love to stay and chat, but there's a train I gotta catch," the young man began to slink away, but before he did so he grabbed his coat and his cap. Tucking away the now folded document into his shirt pocket, Hades began to pick up his three pups and somehow managed to fit all three of them in his other pockets. They were only three weeks old.

"C'mon you three, we gotta go see your ma."

"Bye-bye," his older brothers began to dizzily wave at him as he left them.

"Ciao, babes…"

* * *

**A/N: As always please fav, follow and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Honestly the quote for this chapter would be the whole song, but it really sets the tone and the pace for it. Although, the last stanza does add a foreboding touch to add that both heroes and villains have caused unforeseen ****consequences whether intentional or accidental. ****Beware the choices made, dear reader.**

* * *

_"I've been in this town so long,_  
_So long to the city_  
_I'm fit with the stuff_  
_To ride in the rough,_  
_And sunny down snuff, I'm alright_  
_By the heroes and-_

_Heroes and villains_  
_Just see what you've done."_

_\- Heroes and Villains, By Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys_

* * *

The bells hanging above the door began to chime, signaling that a customer had just stepped into his little shop. Mr. Acheron peered over the countertop of his medicinal cabinet and nearly did a double-take, causing the older man's spectacles to fall off his nose; thankfully they were on a beaded strap and simply fell onto his chest. "Uh-uh, _Kyrios_, we already paid you our dues for the month," the shaking, thin man whimpered at the sight of the tall figure who stood at the door, but once he placed his glasses back on his nose, Mr. Acheron released a groan of annoyance.

"Oh it's _you," _there was a heavy note of disdain in his voice as he went back to what he was originally doing. The shaking man stood all the more straighter, his facade slipping entirely as he began to ignore the approaching young man.

Hades dryly laughed as he began to lean on the wooden countertop next to the cashier, using the large machine to block the upper-half of his body in the case someone outside the drug store recognized him. "Don't worry, I won't be long. Kind of on the run here, so let's make this quick."

"If this is about more Lethe, tell that yutz ya call a _father_ that making this stuff ain't easy," Mr. Acheron disappeared to the back of the store only to emerge with a single green bottle which he placed on the countertop in front of him. He normally gave the boy seven every week, but this past week had been quite eventful. "And when youse guys keep taking more than half of my profits for your silly _protection costs_, let him know it's _his_ fault if my shop goes under."

Hades rolled his eyes at the shop owner's monologue. Every time he came in here, the old geezer would complain to him about his problems, and to be fair to him, he didn't have a lot of options on who to vent to especially since Kronos made it incredibly difficult to trust anyone. Mr. Acheron just so happened to know that after two summers of working at the old shop, that he hated his old man too.

"_Yeah_… So… Leuce here?" The boy's tone was oddly chipper, and after knowing the kid for some odd years it was out of character for him. Something had him higher than the notes of a piccolo the way he was bouncing, tapping his hand on the countertop like he was dynamite ready to explode.

Mr. Acheron, in a moment of frustration, threw up his arms. "Always askin' 'bout my girl, never askin' how Mr. Acheron is doin'!" The shop owner began to curse in Greek, and in his rage began to angrily organize the new shipment of medicines he had gotten this morning into the near empty shelves on the walls. "Y'know I got half my mind to send my girl off to school like her sisters, so she can meet a decent fellow- away from all this-"

"_Sir_," Hades ground his teeth in frustration, but after years of putting up with Mr. Acheron's constantly shifting moods, he was getting awfully good at it, but even his patience had limits. Right now he was on top of the world. Only one thing was stopping him from leaving this city for good, and it was finding Leuce. He didn't know her daily routine since they secretly met at night, so the shop was the first thing that came to mind. Too bad her father still hated him and fired him after he discovered his secret relationship with his daughter. "If you don't know where she is-"

"You got a lot of nerve askin' for her. It's going to get her killed one day- y'know that, punk?" Mr. Acheron's voice dropped into a serious whisper, his colored eyes bore into his. Those murky green blue eyes were the color of a wild, ancient river, and the river of woe that flowed from his eyes was something the young man felt caught in its currents.

"You're dreaming, old man," Hades shook his head, breaking the spell the shop keeper's eyes had on him. Snatching the bottle of Lethe from the countertop, Hades began to make his leave, but paused at the door. A frustrated sigh escaped from him. He couldn't leave things like this. He owed it to Leuce to give his former boss some decency of respect; even if the two of them never got along. "_Sir_, I'm gonna be frank. You don't like me, I get that. No one in your beady eyes deserves your little girl, but I'm taking her away from here. We've got places to see, dreams to chase, _I've_ saved enough, and I'll work every day to give her a real h-"

The shopkeeper had the nerve to laugh in his face. "Boys your age are always runnin' 'round thinking you're like gods; like nothin' can't touch ya, but, it's always the people who run who got trouble at their heels. Don't drag her into your mess, ya, _schlemiel._ Your old man got the whole city into his mess, what're you gonna make, huh? You two can wait. She won't listen to me anymore," Mr. Acheron's angered voice began to turn into shouting, approaching Hades as he stood paralyzed at the door. "Young love, it's sweet, but there's a reason it's labeled _young_\- cuz youth never lasts. Just like what happened to your ma-"

"_Shut up_," Hades whispered in a low timber, far from the usual tenor of his youthful voice.

"You think I'm scared of a little punk like you? Don't think I won't call one of the dons again," Mr. Acheron warned, his eyes narrowed as he held his ground in front of the boy that towered over him. "I think ya remember that little _incident_."

For the slightest moment, Hades instinctively placed his hand over his chest. His ribs had not forgotten. He could still feel the thick leather sole of his uncle Iapetus' shoe digging into his ribcage, pressing into him as he tried to breathe, his chest suffocating underneath his uncle's rock solid foot. Yet even if he could, the room had been full of that awful cigarette smoke as the rest of his uncles and his own father watched. He remembered the way his father had laughed through the whole ordeal, even flicking the ashes of his cigarette onto his face before he disappeared into those double doors that have always been closed off to him, leaving him at the mercy of the pitiless mountain that was his uncle.

Almost a year, and he still felt repercussions from that beating, but now, he felt everything _but_ fear course in his veins. He wasn't a little boy anymore. Today he was a man, and a man did not know the meaning of fear. Especially when he knew what he was fighting for. It was why he never stopped seeing Leuce; even if it was in secret.

Hades had the audacity to release a dry laugh as his jaw crookedly shifted from side to side, "In fact I do. You made _damn_ sure I didn't forget-"

Like the crack of a whip, Hades slammed the shop keeper down onto the wooden countertop where they had just been conversing. A surprised and pained moan escaped out of the older gentleman as he continued to lay there, squirming in his attempt to break out of the boy's hold, but Hades had him pinned like a worm on a hook. The grip the young man had on him was strong, but just as quickly as it had happened, the pressure on Mr. Acheron's shoulders and the angle his arm was bent were quickly released.

"_I," _Hades stretched the single word as he began to realize what he'd done. "I didn't mean," but the young man felt his shoulders deflate. He really was becoming more like his old man every day. "If Leuce doesn't come home tonight- you know why."

Mr. Acheron had barely lifted himself off the countertop to find that the young man was already gone. The bells atop his door now a dirge as their knell began to gradually decrescendo into silence. The old shop keeper listened to the sweet bells, a noise that reminded him of his own daughter. Staring out of his store front, Mr. Acheron noticed the bottle of Lethe that now stood at the front of the door. Without so much as a thought, the old man scooped it up and spun it in his hands.

Sometimes one whipping for a dog is never enough.

* * *

Slipping out of Mr. Acheron's old drugstore, Hades began to wander around Queens in search of Leuce. When she wasn't with her father, or at school; which he didn't have to consider since it was summer time; she was in the park. Either climbing trees or filling up her sketchbook with hundreds of drawings of each of the trees she took a liking to. That was the thing about parks in Queens, there were multiple, and that wasn't even taking into account how large each of the parks were.

Sure, most of them were on the decline at this point in time, with y'know a _war_ going on- the _Great_ War, but he needed to find her soon if he wanted them to get out today. At this point, he needed to, so as to avoid now _two_ groups of people that would come after him: Kronos' cronies and his two older brothers.

Speaking of his two older brothers, he was starting to feel a _smidgen_ of guilt for tricking them into partaking of the Lethe moonshine that was meant for the three blind sisters, but how else would he have reacted if someone just straight up told him they had a plan to take down their father? Taking out their father- they had no idea what they were dealing with. If they somehow even managed to get past the whole mob of underlings- past the dons and troop of loyal goons he had, Kronos himself was not someone to underestimate. He was easily bigger than all three of them- yes, even bigger than Zeus, and he fought better than a well oiled machine. Quick and efficient he could make a group of ten men fall to their knees with nothing but his hands, and that was when he was in need of entertainment. There were other times, when he was dealing with his own goons that a lesson needed to be taught, and ultimately they were put through the torture that made sure they never defected again; that is if they were given that chance.

Though the idea of powers in this family was laughable to him, there were a few coincidences he couldn't ignore, and the more he thought of it, okay, _maybe_ there was something in his family. Their father definitely had _something_, he couldn't explain what, but he would not argue that fact.

So in theory, okay Zeus and Poseidon may have some kind of parlor tricks up their sleeves, but so what? They get rid of Kronos they'd have even more problems to deal with. Underlings without a boss were like chickens with their heads cut off. They run around leaving an even bigger mess than anyone could anticipate. It was the primordial example of cutting off a hydra head, two more would take its place. Any number of Kronos' half-brothers would try and make themselves the new boss, and though they lacked the brains Kronos had, they had much more brutal ways of taking control should the underlings decide to pay fealty to another brother.

Kronos took care of that problem from the moment Grandpa Ouranos died, and in return for their unquestionable loyalty, he gave them sections of the city to lord over. With Iapetus taking care of the West Side, Hyperion the East, Coeus the North, and Krios the South side, they had every corner covered, and all of them ruled their own sections like tyrannical kings. They had numbers, connections, you name it, they had it. So what kind of crazy plan did Zeus and Poseidon even have?

The only thing he could recall from their short meeting was something about a guy name Iasion, and for some reason it was awfully familiar. _Iasion, _Hades repeated his name, letting it roll of his tongue. He vaguely remembered some schmo with that name, but who exactly? It wasn't a _popular_ name, name like that would get a guy a free bowl of soup or something. But why did it strike him?

"_Gah_!" Hades let out a yelp of surprise as someone threw an apple at his head.

"Hiya, Hades," a girlish giggle accompanied the voice coming up above him.

"You didn't think of any other way getting my attention, babe?" Hades grimaced, rubbing the back of his head where the apple had hit him as he looked up at the willowy girl who lounged on the tree above him.

Leuce cheekily smirked, flipping back her short, curly forest green hair in a coy manner. "And miss that expression on your face?" She admired the tall lanky boy who was just starting to mature. With a wide set of shoulders and a strong chin the boy had hollow cheeks and expressive yellow eyes that had multiple layers of charcoal rings around them giving a good indication of how much he slept. Yet underneath that ruggedness, there was something oddly handsome about it, maybe not in the normal standards, but it was something the girl had come to admire after months of stealing glances.

Hades soon returned Leuce's grin despite the throbbing in the back of his head. "You are one crazy little minx. Now get down here, I got something to tell ya, babe."

"Hmm, but I'm so comfy up here," Leuce winked, leaning back into the trunk of the tree with her arms behind her head, an action that was a bit difficult in the white long-sleeved blouse she wore.

"Hey, your loss, babe, but I guess I'll have to walk all three of these mutts without you," Hades proceeded to pull out two of the dogs that were in his pockets and raised them high so she could see them. The pups were not too excited about being awoken once again, and especially more so at the awfully high-pitched squeal of excitement the girl on the tree made.

"Alright," she swung her legs down, the long billowing green skirt began to ride up enough to reveal her knee-length pantaloons. "I'm coming down, but you better not look up," she shot a poignant glare at him that would have seemed menacing if it weren't for the way her large green eyes always seemed to make her look more doe-eyed.

Hades snorted. "Don't tempt me," the young man lilted, but was sorely reprimanded as another apple was sent flying at his head. "Ouch- okay- _okay_, turning around," Hades began to rub the now red mark on his forehead in an attempt to placate his bruised skull. Babe really had an arm on her.

While Leuce tried to get down from the tree, Hades used this moment to let the pups stretch their legs. Setting them down on the ground, the young man placed them at his feet in the shadow of the trees.

The three young pups began to pitter-patter around the thin-bladed grass, exploring their new surroundings and unfamiliar scents, but they made sure to stay close together. Wherever one went the other two were quick to follow even if they had a hard time trying to decide what to do first. Yet what captured the three pups attention the most at the moment was the bright light that seemed to come from everywhere. Having lived all their short lives in the sewers, they did not know what to make of the giant star that took up a majority of the sky. Their watery eyes blinked up at the bright sky, trying to make sense of it all. They had never seen the sun before, but they enjoyed the warm sensation that filled their pelts thanks to the stray rays of sunshine that made it through the branches.

"That's right mutts, there's a whole world out there," Hades chuckled at the dogs' reactions of visible awe. Their tails and then their whole bodies began shake with overwhelming excitement. Their recently opened eyes were drawn to the massive trees that towered over them and to the expansive river that trickled by.

The warm summer breeze began to shake the branches of the trees thick with flowering yellow blooms, sending a couple leaves and even some flower petals down to the earth below. Autumn was not far off and with the increasing heat of the dog days of summers, the leaves were beginning to dry at the base of their stems, freeing some of them from the branches they called home.

Immediately, the three pups began to give chase after a wandering leaf that fluttered down somewhere near them, but after giving the suspicious object a thorough sniff and quick bite from each pup, their curiosity soon returned to the young man who had made his way over to where they were investigating. As soon as his shadow encompassed them, the three pups began to tumble towards him, tripping over each other and their own fumbling paws, promptly getting to work on the laces of his worn leather shoes.

Hades felt a wry smile worm its way across his face. "You dumb mutts," he bent down and scooped all three of the pups in his hands and set them down further away from his shoes. Knowing the three would get bored and try and attack his laces again, Hades took off his cap and placed it on top of their confused little heads.

The sound of a small thud coming from behind him caused Hades to turn around, but he barely had time to react as Leuce threw her arms around his neck.

"You miss me?" Leuce asked and before he could respond, the sneaky girl pecked him on the lips.

Hades snorted. "_Hardly,_" the young man rolled his eyes at her affection. Though he was a sucker for it, he couldn't hide the slight embarrassment he felt every time she displayed it so out in the open. "The girl I'm looking for doesn't chuck apples every chance she gets."

"And miss the opportunity for free food?" The pearly-hued girl stood on her tip-toes ready to give the boy another kiss, but paused as she decided to tease him again and only blew at his waiting, puckering lips. "You don't sound like the Hades, I know," she removed her arms around the boy's neck and turned her attention to the playful pups.

"You're such a tease, but you're half right about that." Hades set himself next to Leuce, who was seated on the ground in a criss-cross position.

"Oh?" Leuce lifted a curious eyebrow, momentarily glancing at Hades, and away from the puppies she had set on top of her lap. "So you didn't get me these pups just for any silly old reason?" She began to pout her seashell pink lips at him.

"And who said I was giving 'em to you, huh?" Hades' eyes gleamed with mischief.

"Oh, you're no fun," Leuce stuck out her tongue at him. "I just figured since you told me you had something to tell me."

"I'm getting to that, babe, jeez Louis," the young man felt heat begin to bloom on his face, and in his haste, began to rub at his offending cheeks to hide his growing embarrassment. "Y'know how I said we'd run away from here as soon as I turned eighteen?"

"And when _I _turn seventeen," she lilted. "Papa, doesn't want me turning into mama, but we won't have to wait so long, my birthday's only three weeks after yours."

Hades scoffed. "_I noticed_… But what if we didn't have time for that?" His voice began to lose its cheerful tone and became all the more serious as his body became rigid, his voice tight as he said, "What if our chance was now?"

"_Now_?!" Leuce's already large eyes became wider than saucers. "Oh Hades, you can't be serious. You're not of a-"

"Yeah, I _am_. My _brothers_ are back in town, and they scrounged up some pretty legitimate documents confirming my real birthday. We don't have to wait. We can leave right now to Atlantic City, Chicago, hell, we could run to _California_! None of my miserable family's livin' over there."

Hades watched as Leuce's face darkened for the slightest second. Was that worry on her face? Fear? No, Leuce wasn't afraid of anything, she was _overly_ confidant. So what was that shadow on her face?

Leuce quickly noticed Hades studying her, and her demeanor quickly changed into a look of concern- not of worry. "Hades, you can't be _serious,_ what about money? Transportation? The puppies?! We don't have a plan!"

Hades breathed an internal sigh of relief. She was worried about their lack of a plan- not the idea of running away. Well, he knew how to placate her worries. After knowing her all this time, he knew how to treat a lady. "Excuse you, but I got a full-fledged plan in the makings, my sweet. You really think my Aunt Nyx and I lost touch all these years? That old bat is sneakier than me and that's saying something," He explained, but Leuce couldn't help but smile at the under current of admiration he had for the woman who raised him.

Hades never made it his priority to praise people, he was the direct opposite, finding new ways to ridicule and belittle those he found dull and slow-witted as soon as their backs were turned. It may have seemed cruel, but she knew it was his way of blowing off steam. So when he did find the rare few who managed to gain his praise it made even the shyest of girls feel special.

"Nyx has friends _everywhere_," Hades continued, but unbeknownst to him, Leuce still continued to mull over her own thoughts. "She'll help us get out of the city once the sun takes a hike and calls it a day."

Leuce began to bite her nails as indecision furrowed her brow, making her usually sweet face look all the more troubled. "Well that sounds all well and good, Mr. Cthonika, but I feel like I need a little assurance before I let my hair go flying behind me as we run off into the sunset."

Hades felt his heart leap into his throat. He knew this moment in the conversation was coming, but he was still feeling pretty overwhelmed with the revelation that he was a man today. Everything he had been looking forward to had landed in his lap in the span of two hours! He felt higher than the clouds in the sky, and as every second ticked by he knew their small window of opportunity was closing. Yet even he knew the importance of getting Leuce to come with him. She was his whole world, and he wasn't about to leave her behind like his brothers had done to him. He was going to start over, and if he had to start an honest-to-God family, then damnit he was going to do so.

Yet as Hades took in the loveliness that was Leuce, with her laughing eyes and smirking grin, the boy turned man felt all his previous confidence begin to melt away. "Al-_alright_," Hades mumbled in a small voice. Nervously he began to tug at his collar, his eyes searching for something- anything to use as a makeshift ring. "Close your eyes," he exclaimed in a small voice after loudly clearing his throat.

Leuce felt herself blink in surprise. _Oh heavens to betsy, he wasn't joshing her. _

The young man that looked liked he was about to throw up was deadly serious. Hades could talk big, a true silver tongue in every form. When he used to work at her father's shop- a job that his uncle Iapetus had set up for him every summer he came back from school. His time there showed his natural talent of being able to make anyone buy anything in the shop even when there were products that snake oil salesmen couldn't.

"_You want me to what_?"

"Close your eyes," Hades nonchalantly repeated, seemingly putting his nervousness in check, but he did not wait for her and covered her head with his discarded cap, making sure it covered her eyes.

"Oh alright," Leuce huffed.

Thinking fast, Hades looked up at the flowering poplar tree they had found solace under and jumped up as high as he could, and tore off the closest branch he could reach. In a hurry, the young man ripped off a leaf he acquired from the branch and began to roll the leaf on its velvety white underside. Hades was about to discard the rest of the branch, but his eyes caught the bright yellow petals of a flower that was nestled in the middle of the branch.

_Oh what the hell._

Standing in front of the pearly white girl, Hades gently lifted her left hand and attempted to tie together the slippery leaf around one of her fingers.

Leuce couldn't help herself and removed the cap from her eyes, smirking as she watched him continue to struggle to tie it around her finger. "Need some help?"

"hEy! What did I say?!"

"Oh give me that," Leuce snapped and began to tie the leaf ring around her finger. "There! That wasn't too hard, huh?"

Hades rolled his eyes, ignoring her question. "So, whaddya say, Miss Acheron? Wanna run away with me?" The young man extended out the yellow flower from the poplar tree above her, but after a moment of hesitance he awkwardly lowered himself down to one knee.

Leuce couldn't help herself as she began to blush deeply and bit back the urge to laugh by covering her smirking mouth with her hand. The puppies in her lap began to squirm at the sound of Hades' voice and began to move off of her long skirt towards him. "You're meshuga, y'know that, right?"

Hades awkwardly chuckled. "To the untrained eye maybe."

Leuce shook her head, but not in disdain. She really loved this boy. Loved him the moment he opened his mouth, goading her into conversation with him. How shy she was then, unable to talk to him until a solid month had passed by when he began working along side her. "But I guess I'd be meshuga too if I didn't go along with youse four," she took the flower from Hades' extended hand.

"Ya mean it, babe?" Hades' face was extended into a wide grin.

Leuce almost couldn't believe how his usually sullen expression became so bright and cheery. How it filled her with hope! Maybe she'd see more of that in their new life, and though a part of her wanted to stay with her sisters and father, she was ready to throw it off to the side. Without replying, Leuce grabbed Hades by the collar of his shirt and brought his lips to her own.

Hades melted into her sweet lips, but the wide grin he wore was hard to shake off as he held her close to him.

The two of them would have continued the kiss had it not been for the puppies that were being squished between them.

With a disappointed sigh, Hades unlatched his lips from Leuce's, and picked up the pup that was yowling the loudest and brought it close to his face. "Hey, _you,_" he lightly poked the pup's wet nose. "I'm in the middle of something here."

"You haven't named them yet, have you?"

"I've only had 'em for a week," Hades set the pup down with the rest of his littermates as they began to crawl to him instead. "I don't know 'em yet."

"I beg to differ," Leuce scoffed, feeling the slightest tinge of jealously at the pups' betrayal as they began to curl down to rest in Hades' lap. "Where'd you get 'em anyway?" She reached over and tenderly took one of the coal-colored pups out of Hades' lap, sending the other two pups into a frenzy once they noticed their brother was missing.

The two pups in Hades' lap began to loudly yowl at Leuce in their lame attempt at barking, demanding her to return their stolen littermate.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hades lightly reprimanded and snatched the pup out of Leuce's hands, and put the pup back with the rest of his litter, immediately calming down the two crying pups. "Don't ya know ya can't separate the brothers?" He exclaimed without even thinking, and watched as the two pups began to rub their heads into the smaller pup now that they were reunited.

_Huh…_

Leuce felt embarrassment begin to bloom a bright pink shade upon her face. "Oh… I didn't know," the girl twittered as her shyness began to take hold of her once more.

"Well, now y'know," Hades intoned without a thought. His mind, beginning to think once more about his _own_ brothers who were probably still stuck down in the sewers. They'd find their own way out again, they were in peak physical condition unlike the weird sisters, so they'd be fine in a couple of hours. A little half-seas over, maybe, but that was nothing a meal and some hot tea couldn't fix.

"Hey, is something the matter?"

Hades jumped at the sound of Leuce's dulcet voice. For a second he had forgotten she was even there. "I'm just thinking," he vaguely exclaimed.

"About?" Leuce pressed, placing her elbow on his knee and rested her chin on her hand, fluttering her long eyelashes at him.

Hades couldn't ignore her in this position, and even then he knew he shouldn't. "My brothers…" he muttered with a slight note of annoyance.

"Oh that's right. Are they helping you- _oh,"_ Leuce awkwardly smiled as a blush bloomed one her face as she corrected, "I mean _us_ get out?"

Hades released a dry laugh. "Opposite, babe. They want me to stay- help them take down daddy dearest or something. Really wasn't paying attention at the time."

If Leuce wasn't already a pearly shade of white, she somehow achieved the impossible, becoming even paler than before. "Hades, do _not_ joke about that," the girl harshly whispered into his ears, her eyes darting around like she had just been told they were being watched.

Hades snorted at her sudden change in tune. His feisty little girl rarely ever let fear overcome her, and seeing it so blatant struck the boy as odd. There was no one around here, but the mere mention of his brothers' overblown plan to dethrone Kronos' crooked empire was enough to get her visibly shaken. He didn't have that much sway, did he? Well she didn't have to worry, they'd be out of town before Kronos even sneezed, and then they could forget about everything.

Yet, Hades felt doubt begin to prick in his heart as he suddenly remembered what Zeus told him before he tricked them into drinking the Lethe moonshine. _"We've tried running, Hades, but he always comes back."_

"Yeah, _right_," Hades brushed off Leuce's unease, and even his own shrinking optimism. "C'mon, if my old man wanted to kill me, he would have done so after that stunt I pulled three month- _oh sh-_" The boy felt a cold feeling seep into his bones, like he was emerging from underneath a frozen pond. That sensation of realizing just how cold the water is hitting you as the North wind practically slapped you in your face. All of it came crashing down, the dots connecting faster than his own words.

He knew who Iasion was, _crap,_ he even knew what the hell he found. Cursing under his breath, Hades slammed his fist into the grass beside him. "_Damn it_!"

"Hades?" Leuce and the pups flinched at his reaction, unabashedly concerned at his visible rage. "What's wrong?" She pressed despite the fear that was rising inside her.

"I know- I know, _damnit,_ why did I forget?!" Hades' hands were clenching his spiky blue hair as his apprehension began to increase sevenfold. Jumping to his feet he began to utter a string of curses the likes of which Leuce had never heard him say before.

"Hades?" Leuce prodded once more, grabbing at Hades' hand as he rose, but her hand slipped out of his grasp as he reached his full height. "Hades, you're _scaring_ me."

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry, I _just_," his voice began to falter as panic began to rise inside of him. "I _know_, damnit, they're _right_!"

Leuce jumped to her feet and made a grab for the sides of Hades' faded gray blazer, forcing him to face her. "Who's right? Hades, what's going on?!" She shouted with more fury than a girl her size could ever muster.

That seemed to snap Hades back to reality. "Leuce, I need you to run back to your father's shop," he placed his long hands on her slight shoulders, accidentally shaking her in the process. Such was his rising panic. "Get there as fast as you can, and do not stop to talk to _anyone_. Hell, keep my hat," he grabbed his cap off the ground and handed it to her. "When you get to your father's, tell him you two need to close shop- bar the door- hide down in the basement, and do _not _come out until I come get you. I still have a key I- uh _borrowed_ from your old man, so you'll know it's me."

"I don't understand, I thought we were leaving-"

"Not right now," Hades interrupted her by putting a finger to her lips. "If this blows up in our face, I'll try and make a break for it and meet you at midnight. So be packed and ready to go. We're leaving the city tonight, but I gotta make things right if we're ever gonna live in peace," he brought her in close and pecked her forehead tenderly.

"Hades, what's going on?"

"The less you know, the better. Now I gotta go get my brothers," the young man picked up his pups and promptly stuffed them inside his tucked shirt.

"You can't be serious- you're going to help them? After what you just said?!" Leuce stared incredulously at Hades, her green eyes wide as she scoffed in what he could only describe as dumbfoundment.

"I know what I said!" The boy angrily fumed, "But I can't do what they did to _me_," Hades exclaimed with such conviction, the young girl felt herself at a loss for words, but resolution kept her rooted to the ground.

"Hades, you could _die_!" Leuce spat. "Do you understand me? Look what happened to the people who stood up to your father- they're never heard from again! Your mother, your grandparents, _our_ _families_!" Her voice rose in pitch as she held back her emotions as best she could. "Are you _really_ prepared to die for the two brothers who abandoned you?"

"Then I got something to look forward to," Hades stated in an oddly bitter tone, his jaw repositioning back into place in a resolute manner.

Leuce looked up into Hades' eyes, his ever expressive eyes and for once saw an emotion she had never seen him wear. Even as he closed them as he bent down to give her a final peck on her cheek, she cupped his hollow cheek allowing him to linger in her arms. "I hope you know that I love you, you, yutz," she felt him stiffen in her embrace, and it was then Leuce knew she had his full attention. "And you don't have to hide that you're afraid. Not from me."

Hades did not utter a word, but he felt his anger begin to simmer down. "I'm coming back to you- nothing's stopped me before."

"I know," Leuce leaned into him, pressing her ear into his chest, listening in to his drumming heartbeat. At first all she felt were the pups squirming underneath his shirt, but as they settled with her presence she tuned in to that steadying beat. Yes, her father had tried. His father had tried, but they always managed to find a way to each other. Now it was time to try again.

"_Τα λέμε_, Leuce," * Hades began to begrudgingly disentangle his arms from around her. "Don't forget we're skipping town at midnight."

"Hm," the girl began to coyly grin. "I'll be waiting at the door and in case you're wondering," she winked. "I'll be the girl with the glass slippers,"

The lopsided grin that Hades wore was a sweet sight to see as he took off, shooting one final glance over his shoulder before he disappeared from sight, leaving Leuce forever rooted underneath the poplar tree.

* * *

Hades ran.

He had no idea what kind of plan he was forming at the moment, but his main concern besides getting his brothers back were the pups bobbing in his shirt. Holding them to his chest, earned him odd stares from the many passerby's as he raced out of the park, though to be fair, the denizens of Queens had seen far stranger things in the past hour alone.

It wasn't until he was surrounded by a large crowd of people did Hades have to stop his sprinting, and instead did his best to wriggle through them, looking for gaps whenever he could to get closer to the side of town he had left his brothers in.

Stopping at an intersection, Hades paused to catch his breath and also to reorient himself. He was trying to avoid the areas he knew had the potential of getting more attention drawn to him than he needed at the moment, and unwanted attention meant drawing suspicion and news traveled fast in the city thanks to the grapevine Kronos controlled.

Alright four blocks past the butcher, take a left at the convent, jump the fence behind Typhon's block, and he'd be back in Skid Row in no time. _And then the fun part would begin,_ Hades inwardly groaned, joining with the flow of the crowd as they collectively walked to the other side of the road. Yet he knew he had to do this. Any part he could play to get rid of his father's hold on him was worth it. Especially now that he had a plan in motion.

Staying at the back end of the crowd, Hades tried to minimize the amount of people behind him so as to limit the chance of someone sneaking up behind him. With his height he could spot any potential threat, and the pups in his shirt poked their heads out of his shirt, trying to help in his effort.

Yet that was no longer a concern as a battered yellow taxicab complete with half its windshield looking like a spider's web and its bumper falling off, turned the street corner in a tight perpendicular move that made the right side of the car's wheels momentarily lift off the ground before it bounced back down to earth. Hades' eyes went wide as the taxi dashed past him separating him from the rest of the crowd, but not before he noticed exactly who was riding in the passenger seat.

There, sitting rather uncomfortably, was his brother, Zeus, his coat off and in a shirt that looked completely soaked with what he could only imagine as sweat.

_Well this changes things._

"_Hey… TAXI!_" Hades took off once again, but this time after the taxi cab as it drove ever faster away from him. Pushing past unlucky bystanders by shoving them out of his way, the boy didn't care as he ran onto the street; much to the chagrin of the many cars that began to honk at him as he did so. With one arm clutching the pups, Hades began to wildly swing his free arm to get the attention of the taxicab.

_"Zeus! You schmuck-"_

Meanwhile in the cab, the preteen who could barely look over the steering wheel turned to the large man who sat uncomfortably in the seat that was much too small for him. "Hey, Z, d'you know that cat?"

Zeus cast a glance at the rearview mirror and released a hearty laugh. "In fact I do," he stated.

Hermes quirked a bemused eyebrow and began to steadily slow down the vehicle. A feat he could accomplish thanks to the boxes that were strapped to his feet.

"No, no don't slow down on his account," Zeus lightly reprimanded.

"Oh yeah, sure no thing," Hermes exclaimed with a smug grin as he slammed the brakes of the taxi. The tires underneath them began to squeal in defiance as Zeus' head connected with the windshield and Poseidon's unconscious body slid off the backseat and onto the floor of the cab.

"_Hermes_!" Zeus shouted more in disbelief than in pain.

"What?" The boy removed the goggles off his face and on top of his aviator helmet. "Ya never leave a newsie behind, sir. Retired or not."

Before Zeus could offer his opinion, the man turned towards his window where an out-of-breath Hades began to bang his fist against it.

"Hey, hey, hey, hello- _let me in_!"

"And why should I?" Zeus began to laboriously roll down his window with the crank on the cab door. "You left us down there for hours-"

"A lapse in judgment, really," Hades cut him off as he reached inside the car over the half-opened window and unlocked the car door. "Now where the hell is Iasion? Is he with you? Seriously, I need details _now_."

Zeus' eyes widened in surprise and in a daze opened the cab door and stepped out to allow Hades inside. "Do you know him?"

"Know him?" Hades chuckled at the sudden irony of the situation. "The yutz almost _hired_ me. Course that was before he ran," the boy pushed the passenger seat and was halfway in the cab when he realized the back was already occupied by a slumbering Poseidon. Yet one look at his brother sent the boy reeling, "Holy smokes, what's on his _face_?!" Hades yelled in shock, backing into his oldest brother's broad chest.

"Just get in," Zeus tiredly exclaimed and forced his baby brother into the back of the yellow cab.

Without so much of a word, Hades stared in utter shock at the fish tail that was growing out of Poseidon's chin in front of his very eyes. "I've heard of monkeys with fish tails, but what's goin' on with him?!" Hades sat down as far away from his brother as possible, the over powering smell of brine beginning to overtake his senses.

"I don't know Hades, what _is_ wrong with him?" Zeus deadpanned, and quickly went back into the cab.

"You know what I meant- what is _that_?" Hades gestured at the lower half of his face trying to make sense of it all, but he was starting to take credence about the powers his brothers supposedly had.

"We're getting sidetracked," Zeus ignored his little brother's question. "Hermes step on it. We need to get back to Demeter's."

"No- we're going to Iasion's old shop," Hades butted in.

"He's on the run, little brother. The last letter I got from him told me he was leaving San Fransisco, heading Northward."

"I know that, but did he tell you what he had?" Hades pressed, but his attention was currently drawn to the pups he was removing from his shirt and depositing them on the seat next to him.

Zeus' mouth hung open ready to reply, but hesitation stopped him from uttering a word for several seconds. "You know about the sundial?"

"Course, I do," Hades spat. "_I'm_ the yutz that stole it from Kronos in the first place."

"_You_?!" Zeus had the gall to laugh in his face. "Really, little brother? You found an object of great power the likes of which mere mortals cannot fathom and you still don't believe us about our power?"

"It's just a little tchotchke- a pocket watch that doesn't even have any flaming springs or dials."

"The sundial?" Zeus reminded him.

"Sure- whatever you wanna call it," Hades shrugged. "And well I got my hands on it after - that doesn't matter," Hades changed his mind mid-sentence. "Let's just say booze was probably a contributing factor to it. So I did the only sensible thing at the time and I traded it for an apple, but it tasted terrible, all waxy and the thick skin got stuck in my teeth. Jeez, I swear I still got a hunk of it still logged in my throat," he grimaced at the memory of it all.

"You sure it was an apple?" Hermes twittered from where he sat in the driver's seat.

"Y'know looking back maybe it wasn't, but Iasion took the damned watch and I only came back cuz I remembered I saw the wanted sign at his window," Hades turned to Zeus who was giving him an expression that barely scratched the surface on how flabbergasted the man was.

His large eyes were stretched wide as his mouth hung open like a child ogling through a candy store window. "_You traded the sundial for an apple?!_" The burly man bellowed at his unfazed brother.

"Oh, I'm sorry d'ya think it was worth _two_ apples?" Hades deadpanned.

"Little brother, that very object- that _single piece_ of ancient history is what has brought the three of us together again. All of this has coincided into this final moment the final act- do you think it just happenstance that we have all had a hand in its sudden disappearance and not take our chance to right the wrongs done by those before us?"

"Oi, first off, skip the verse," Hades snapped. "This isn't the exposition chapter anymore. I only took it cuz it was right there, but that thing you're describing like an opium induced junkie is what's at his shop. You want it so bad- it's there." _Well we can only hope_, Hades mentally added. He still remembered the letter he received maybe a month ago thanks to a little finagling from his Great Aunt Nyx who had received it on his behalf. "And second- y'know what? Let's skip that part, there are children present," Hades casually patted the heads of the pups that had migrated to the top of Poseidon's stomach, though they were going to town licking the fish half of his brother's face.

"No, _no,_ spit that out _now_!" He began to push the pups away in a hurried fashion.

"Hey, I'm not a kid," Hermes protested. "I'm _ten_ now," the boy said matter-of-factually as he stuck his tongue out in defiance at the teenager.

It was at this very moment that Hades finally looked away from his dogs and took a good long look at the young driver, a small scrawny kid with blue skin who wore an old aviator's helmet that was bedecked with badly sewn-on stitches that reminded him of feathers on either side; which was all topped off with flight goggles that masked the boy's eyes. "Zeus, y'mind tellin' me why YOU'RE NOT DRIVING!"

"I can barely fit _in_ this car, much less drive it!"

"And my ma would kill ya," Hermes added to which Zeus mumbled a half-hearted grunt that Hades took as a yes.

"Wait a sec- is he…?" Hades lazily gestured his thumb at the kid while Zeus took this moment to admire the scenery outside his window and not at his younger brother's head that leaned over his left shoulder. "Oh, he _is,"_ Hades began to chuckle at this revelation. His brother was what? Twenty-seven? Timeline checked out. "Alright, I need ya take a left down that block and head for the convent. The grocer's shop is right across from Anapos Way."

"Hey, anything you say, as long as the boss man gives the a-okay."

Hades felt the strangest shiver spread down his spine. _Boss_? Was this how Zeus was gonna take down their father? Fighting fire with fire? Didn't he learn the first time that kids had no place in a mob? If he wished to take this role, he wanted no part of it, but sometimes a necessary evil was the only way to combat the greater evil.

_For now._

Zeus must have noticed that look of uncertainty pass across his face because he quickly changed his tune. "Go on Hermes, listen to what he says. He's my brother y'know," the large man pleasantly nodded.

Hades snorted. _This guy was too trusting for his own good._

"Gee, I wish I had a brother," the boy muttered as the engine sputtered back into life.

"By the looks of things I wouldn't worry too much about that," Hades half-smirked at Zeus who was none the wiser, trying to reposition himself in his seat.

"Hades, you do know Demeter put it on the market recently, correct?"

"Who did what now?" Hades stared quizzically at his brother trying to figure out who this Demeter lady was.

"His wife. She's like a sister to me," Zeus explained. "In fact she'll be my sister-in-law soon. She's trying to sell it to pay for her grandmother's medicine and apartment fees. I've been staying with them for a couple weeks now and I've created quite the burden on her with-"

"Yeah don't care," Hades waved him off. "So it hasn't been sold yet, right?"

"It's not in the best shape. Last I asked her about it a lovely Chinese couple were trying to expand their laundry business and were hoping to-"

"Oi- _again_, none of these details matter, babe." Turning to Hermes, Hades lifted one of the ear flaps of the helmet and muttered. "Kid-"

"Hermes," the boy corrected.

"Alright, _Herm_, I've seen you drive, but can you get us there _faster_?"

The blue skinned boy's face broke out in a large grin as he repositioned his goggles. "Faster? You don't even know the _meaning_ of fast!"

"Now, Hermes, your mother wants this taxi-"

But Hermes was fully concentrated on the road in front of him as he slammed his boot-strapped boxes onto the pedal. Both Hades and Zeus were knocked back into their seats at the forward momentum that the car was creating thanks to its manic driver as he gave the cab everything it had.

"Sorry, can't hear you!" The boy singsonged.

Hades made an instinctive grab for the pups as the car began to hit every hole, divot, pit, you name it, that kid hit every single one the way he swerved just to avoid cabs or wagons that were too slow for Hermes' taste. Yet with an incredible dexterity, or just shear luck, he managed to avoid hitting any pedestrians or objects on the road, but that same sentiment could not be shared with the curbs that he constantly hit as he turned corners.

Then as quickly as it had started, the cab came to a screeching halt, the tires screaming like a harpy the way they began to protest the sudden stop. "We're here!" Hermes happily announced to the brothers who were looking more green than before.

Even Poseidon was awake now, though looking much worse for wear than his older and younger brothers. "And that's why I created _blowholes_," the sailor dizzily muttered before his mind finally came to and sat up to find himself in the back of a cab. "Hades? What are you doing here?"

"Babe, I ask myself that every day, but, Jeez Luis," Hades grabbed onto Hermes' shoulder, trying his best to keep down his breakfast. "Ya drive like a bat outta hell- where'd he learn to drive like that?"

Though the question was pointed at Zeus, Hermes was the first one to speak up. "Practice, practice practice," Hermes sniggered. "The general public has been real generous letting me borrow their cars too. They even got a name for me from what I've heard."

Hades knew it well. _Mechaniotes- _the trickster. He'd seen some of his work all right. Officer Argus was up to his neck trying to solve the case as to who keeps crashing three cars each month, but there was never enough evidence to give the boys in blue a clue to start a proper investigation. Such a small case compared to the amount of organized crime going around you'd think the police would focus on that more, but they got paid off enough to focus their attentions on petty crimes and thievery.

Yet now that he knew it was a kid, Hades didn't know whether to be impressed or to check his pockets to make sure the cash he always carried was still there. "Uh-huh. So you're the little car thief that's got Argus in a bind."

"The very same," the boy smugly grinned. "But I'd hurry if I were you three, I'm pretty sure we were spotted by a couple smokies back there."

"The boy's right, c'mon the sooner we get out of here the better. Less eyes," the brawny man exclaimed forebodingly. "Po-po, you regain your bearings, we'll be quick."

Exiting out of the the cab, Hades was right behind Zeus as the two of them sprinted up the four steps. The shop sandwiched in between a bakery and a home store, stood out from the series of other little shops had not changed much, but just like Zeus had said, the windows and door were boarded up with a sign on the door showcasing the FOR SALE sign, but in between the gaps of the wooden planks, Hades could still make out the wanted ad in the window he was trying to answer three months earlier.

"See, completely untouched," Zeus proclaimed waving his massive forearm at the storefront.

"You sure about that?" Hades made his way to the door and opened it on its hinged side without any resistance.

"Hm, the screws are missing on this side," Zeus noted.

"Not too dissimilar from you, huh, big guy?"

Missing Hades' dig at him completely, Zeus repeated opening the door in fascination. "Why did you come back for us, Hades?"

Hades wasted no time and went through the opened door, trying his best to ignore the feeling of Zeus' eyes upon him. "You said it yourself. Dear old dad keeps coming back," the young man said without turning back to look at him. "I'd rather not have the guy show up again except at the local morgue if ya catch my drift."

"We share the same sentiment," Zeus accepted his sharp reply in stride. "It's time Kronos fesses up to his crimes even if the city refuses to do anything about it. We owe so much to the city who welcomed our clan. "

"Heh, you're so cute trying to make me believe you actually _want_ to make a difference," Hades' cynical voice floated over the empty shop as he headed further into the back.

Zeus paused. His face and even his entire frame became rigid with solemnity as he regarded his youngest brother. His eyes met Hades' own and without a single note of hesitation in his voice exclaimed, "But I do."

The sincerity in his brother's voice caught Hades off-guard. After all these years growing up with the people in his father's family, it was easy to pick out a liar; even those who no-longer felt the sting of morality. The cool liars, you could pick them out even without the slightest flicker of their eyelashes, but the way Zeus held his gaze, every single one of Hades' instincts confirmed the honesty in his words.

"Hey, your call then. I'm not planning to stick around any time soon, anyway," Hades entered the back room and found himself surrounded by crates stacked on top of each other in small towers all across the room. Some of the crates had rotten fruit littered in the single crates around Hades' feet. Yet it was not what was in the crates that he was interested in, but what was beneath the dusty floorboards.

_The things he did. _Hades inwardly sighed as he got on his knees and began crawling across the small space, looking for the loose floorboard mentioned in the letter.

"How so, little brother? Plans for university?"

"Now you sound like Erebus," Hades miffed as his hands began to search, probing the wooden floorboards as best he could with his large brother breathing down his neck.

"Well do you? I wish I did, but I lack the patience for it," Zeus admitted as he leaned against the doorframe that separated the regular store front from the back room. "I apprenticed under so many- practically anyone who would take me in. Carpenters, electricians, an engineer once and after doing work at a railroad construction-"

Hades was half-listening at this point as his fingers snagged upon what he was searching for. With careful, deft fingers, Hades pulled away the loose floorboard he found near the blackened molds he assumed were once cherries. Yet the sight that greeted him made the young man jerk back as if he'd been slapped. Yet no physical force was enacted on him, just the mental pain that flashed deep inside him, resonating within him like the knells of a church bell. Uttering words that Zeus couldn't comprehend, Hades stumbled up to his feet in a daze; like waking up from a nightmare.

That was when reason came back to the young man, but not in the form that his oldest brother was expecting.

_"We need ta get outta here."_

"What's wrong?" Zeus called after his brother as he ran past him and out the store. Peering into the area underneath the boards, the large man reached into the hole and pulled out to his dismay not a pocket watch, but a revolver. "Hades? Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe there's another floorboard around here-"

_Honk. Honk. Honk._

All explanations began to die on Zeus' lips as his head snapped to the sound of the cab's horn going off. _That was Hermes' signal for trouble. _Pocketing the revolver into his pants' pockets, Zeus ran out to face the scene and found the very sight he was hoping to avoid. All the weeks he stayed out of sight, clinging to the shadows like mice, were precariously being thrown out the window as the parked cars he had seen previously down the block roared with life and the long shafts of Tommy guns began to peak out from the small windows of their respective cars.

They were about to have some company alright.

"Zeus, get outta there, we got company," Hades shouted, his voice for once lacking any of the biting snark only to be eclipsed by his unadulterated panic.

"Hermes, start the cab!" Zeus roared as he ran down the steps and dashed into the cab faster than a bolt of lightning; a feat seemingly impossible for a man his size.

Hades was barely climbing into the cab as Zeus shoved him through and slammed the cab door behind him.

"Move it! Vamoose! Let's get outta here already!" Hades shouted at Hermes as he began to slowly back out of his parking spot.

"Please, Hermes, do hurry!" Zeus jumped, banging his head against the roof of the cab as the first wave of bullets hit his door.

"Yes, sirs," Hermes nonchalantly exclaimed and just as before shifted into high gear as he slammed the driving pedal. All three of the passengers, pups excluded, jerked back into their seats as the car began to accelerate at an alarming rate. "Where to?"

"Yeah, where to, Zeus?" Hades pressed, flinching as the back windshield became bedecked with holes and shattered behind him.

In response, Poseidon grabbed Hades by his collar and forced him to lay down down so as to better protect him from the bullets that were raining down upon them. "Zeus, we were at Iasion's shop, they'll suspect Amalthea's apartment first," Poseidon shouted, shaking off the shards of glass that had fallen onto him.

"Then we need to get everyone out of there," Zeus decided with a strange finality to his voice. "Hermes, take us there."

"Great, but we still got company," Hades reminded him, as he set the cowering pups down on the floor of the cab.

"You got it," Hermes said amid the conversation, but there was a sudden wrench in their plans. "Uh-oh-"

With the back windshield completely shot out, there was nothing blocking the passage of bullets as they began to be-speckle the already spider-web design on the front windshield. Yet since they were aiming for the driver, Hermes could no longer see the road in front of him as now the spider web spread across the entire windshield. Never had Zeus been happier that Hermes was a child and thus too short to be hit.

A flurry of curses began to echo from both Hades and Poseidon, but Zeus was one step ahead of them. He never liked his seat in the first place, might as well take the seat with a view. Without any warning, Zeus reared back his elbow and smashed it into the already weakened windshield.

_"Whaddya doin?!"_

_"Zeus, you'll hurt yourself!"_

"Hermes needs to see, and we-" Zeus slammed his elbow back into the windshield, finally breaking through the glass. "Need to get them off our tail."

"But how- _oh that yutz_," Hades grumbled as Zeus continued to slam his shoulder until the windshield completely gave way and shattered completely.

Yet that was nothing as Zeus began to climb out of the cab and onto the roof.

"What's he doin'?!" Hades reached out to grab Poseidon's collar to drag him down like he had done for him, but missed it completely as his middle finger snagged onto the necklace he wore, and snapped the string. "Whoops," Hades brought the pendant in the shape of a shell upon the string closer to his eyes, but a slight glance up at his brother made the boy jump.

"Po-po, your face!"

"Huh?" Poseidon instinctively began a quick swab of his face, but his hand froze over his chin. In fact, he could feel a draft on his face, a feeling he was not familiar with unless…

_The fish tail on his face was gone!_ It was just a normal pointed teal face; just like how he had this morning.

"Where did you get this?" Hades pressed to a baffled Poseidon.

"It was a gift from Ma, the day we ran-"

"And you've worn it since?!" Hades shouted, his question sounding more like a statement.

"No? I think when I turned eighteen, the day I enlisted."

_That_ was why Kronos was obsessed with his pocket watch, Hades surmised. They weren't _born_ with powers, it wasn't about reaching adulthood, it was little thingamabobs they got their powers from. Zeus probably had something similar, or maybe he was just unnaturally stupid. But that meant Kronos was powerless as long as he had that sun dial out of his reach, and judging by the revolver they had left in the floorboards to mock him, the very same he had used to- _no_, he couldn't think about that. It was solely a message. They knew he was teaming up with his brothers. They might've even found the sundial a long time ago or however long he got that letter.

This felt like the makings of a trap. Zeus had said it himself, mere happenstance had not brought them together- this was planned and not just by the Fates.

Hades silently prayed to whoever was listening. _Please let Leuce be safe. _Refocusing on the scene before him Hades watched in disbelief as Zeus proceeded to climb out the front windshield of the cab, his legs the only part of him he could see as the rest of him was on the roof.

"Hermes, the _dipsy-doo_ maneuver if you will," Zeus commanded.

With a quick two-fingered salute, Hermes began to repeatedly slam his car horn to alert the people and cabs in front of them to move out the way as he began to teeter the cab in an irregular path so as to make it harder to aim or hit Zeus as he climbed to the roof.

"Zeus is going to fall out when Hermes makes another turn," Poseidon grimaced.

"To hell with this," Hades cursed and in a split second, blocked out the grating sound of bullets hitting metal and the blaring horn of the cab, and forced his breakfast down before it rose up in his throat again. He grabbed onto the seat in front of him and propelled himself to the front seat. Then grabbing onto his brother's legs to prevent him from slipping out of the cab, Hades looked up to find his brother peaking over the cab hood. "Zeus what the hell are you planning to do? One revolver against-"

"Please, I will _never_ stoop to their level," Zeus chuckled despite the danger of the situation as crackles of electricity began to emerge from his finger tips. "Now, little brother, let me show you how your big brother takes care of business- IN A FLASH!"

Hades could not see what fully occurred as a bright white light filled his vision causing him to shut his eyes. An ear-splitting sound exploded in his ears as lightning struck one of the pursuing cars, causing the metal around and where it struck to melt at the shear heat of the bolt and successfully incapacitating it in its entirety.

Still, Hades did not let go. Tightening his hold on his brother as he felt the cab sharply turn to the right, Hades finally dared to open his eyes. The sound still echoed in his ears that for a second he couldn't even hear Poseidon shouting at Zeus.

"You're wasting your energy!"

"I'm protecting my family!" Zeus roared as he began to charge up a second bolt and fired it at the second car, though his aim was slightly off and hit the front part of the car where the engine was and caused the car to completely explode. With the last car remaining, the sound of bullets immediately died as they began to focus on the chase.

"Boss, we're almost there!" Hermes shouted.

"Good, just in time for one more!"

"_Zeus_!"

"_Turn_!" Hermes shouted as the sign of Crete street came into view. Turning the steering wheel as much as it could give, the car's left side began to lift off the ground. Hermes never slowed to turn, and it was this unexpected change in direction that threw off Zeus' aim into a direction he did not expect.

Instead of hitting the front of the car like he intended, the bolt struck the front right wheel of the encroaching car, destroying every micron of rubber on the tire. With nothing to cushion the wheel of the car, the metallic rim began to scrape the asphalt, making sparks fly and the engine became ablaze as the sparks ignited flames that began to spread like wildfire in a dry field.

Yet also with nothing properly balancing the car, they could not take out the turn they had set the car in as they too were turning onto Crete Street. Now the occupants of the car could do nothing as the car lurched uncontrollably and struck one of the telephone poles that lined the street head on and sent the pole careening downward onto the old brick apartment building.

Hermes watched completely stupefied, his right foot letting go of the gas and onto the rarely used brake as the pole fell. Some of the wires became disconnected thanks to the force of the fall and the dry wood began to be eaten away by the flames from the car as it climbed all the way to where the pole had left a small dent into the old crumbling building.

No one told him to stop, but eventually he did, the young boy completely mute as all three of the brothers ran out of the collapsing cab, but it was Zeus who acted first.

Physical exhaustion was etched in every crinkle of the oldest brother's handsome face as it was set into a deep frown. "We need to get the people out. Poseidon- you're first floor- Hades, second, I'll take the third. If any of you finish early help me out. Amalthea is old, Demeter is pregnant, and there are three children in that apartment along with Hera."

For once Hades didn't have it in him to argue, nor to criticize his oldest brother's hand in creating this mess, though he wanted to _dearly_. Taking one glance back at the open cab door where he saw his pups curled up together, the young man took off, trying to keep up with Zeus' long strides as Poseidon lumbered behind him.

Dashing up the stairs he found at the corner of the building, Hades nearly slipped on the slick tiles of the second story and did what he was told.

"HEY, EVERYBODY _OUT_! _FIRE_!" He shouted, banging onto every door along the hall. Going left and right, back and forth until he was satisfied that everyone was out at his floor. Hades did what he could to get people moving.

"No need to lock your doors, people. This place is burning to the ground!"

Amid the grumbling old men and women who cursed at him both in English and in Greek, Hades urged them onwards as children cried as they were pulled away by their mothers and the smell of something burning was becoming more prevalent as each second passed.

"C'mon, everybody, get outta here. Lady, this is no time to grab your radiator," Hades began to play tug-a-war with the heavy metal object a struggling old women was trying to drag with her. Earning a cross glare and several rude gestures with her mouth and her hands, the old woman relented and disappeared down the stairs.

"Alright, I think that's everybody on my floor," Hades looked up the staircase as more people came running down as heavy black plumes began to emerge from the ceiling.

A tall beautiful woman with long strawberry blonde curls carrying a wailing red-skinned toddler being trailed by two children were the last to run down from the third floor. The four of them almost ran past him, but the woman paused as she recognized the young man. "Hold it girls," the woman shouted amid her son's screaming. "Hades, dear, is that you?"

"Hera, right?"

The woman smiled, a strange thing to see at a time like this. "The very same. Hurry, Zeus is upstairs," Hera exclaimed in a strained voice. "Demeter refuses to leave without our grandmother and he can't take them both. I've got her daughter and my children, please-"

"On it!" Hades ran up the stairs before she could finish.

"Cover your mouth, dear! Smoke inhalation kills before the flames!" Hera shouted before she grabbed Athena's hand whose other hand was holding onto Kore's.

Taking this advice to heart, Hades pulled his shirt collar up and over his nose as he ascended up the stairs. Opening the door that led to the third floor, Hades shuddered as thick black smoke escaped out of the hallway and into the staircase. His eyes began to water at the heat and the carbon in the air, but the young man pressed onwards.

_What door, what door… _Hades mentally repeated over and over, until he heard voices amid the sounds of the ceiling crumbling above him and the wood beginning to snap as the heat began to rise. Barely, just barely he could make out the tongues of red and yellow on the side where he guessed the telephone pole struck the building.

They needed to get out of here _now_.

Finally locating the apartment door, Hades found himself in a dingy little room that was lovingly decorated with an assortment of flowers in the patterns of quilts, rugs, and even curtains. Toys and books were splayed out on the small space which he walked over and headed into the bedroom where he located the source of the voices. One of which he could immediately recognize thanks to his brother's commanding voice.

"_Yaya_, I already told you I'm not leaving you," a large pregnant woman with short red hair and corn stalk green skin stood next to Zeus, clutching the old woman's gnarled hands who laid on her small bed with layers of blankets stacked on top of her.

"So stubborn- just like me," the old woman twittered, her voice ancient and gravelly but there underneath it all was a thick Greek accent.

"Hey, I can grab the old bag if you want," Hades made his presence known by his quip, earning a wry cackle from the old goat.

"_Hades_," Zeus intoned.

"Ah the third one," the old woman exclaimed, beckoning him forward with her wrinkled hands. "Your mother hid something in here for you, but I lost it so long ago."

"Pity," Hades quipped as he gently guided her wrinkled hands and wrapped them around his neck and then after putting his own arms underneath her, he oh so gently lifted the bony old woman into his arms. "Can we get outta here now? I personally don't want to end up anywhere near well-done."

Zeus nodded. "Demeter, let me carry you."

"I'd like to see you try," the pregnant woman snapped, her upturned nose flared her nostrils in defiance.

"I tried to negotiate," Zeus shrugged, but with his large muscular form, it was almost laughable how little she resisted as he picked her up.

"You're a lousy brother-in-law."

"Not yet," Amalthea cackled.

"Hades, after you," Zeus commanded.

Down the two brothers ran the three flights of stairs, the smoke inside their lungs burning them from the inside. Sweat began to drip down their foreheads and the back of their necks as the staircase became increasingly unsteady.

But they pushed onward, scrambling in the dark until they reached the first floor. Thankfully the doors to the apartment building were wide open, and there waiting for them was a watery-eyed Poseidon.

Rushing outside, Zeus immediately set down Demeter while Hades passed the old woman to Poseidon who took her with ready arms.

Coughing began to wrack Hades' body as he desperately tried to breathe in fresh, clean _urban _air. With his hands on his knees, Hades bent over and spit out the gunk in his throat trying to forget the sensation of smoke and the heat out of his system.

"You're coughing up a lung there, old sport," a short balding officer stood before him with a club in his hand.

"Wuh?" Hades was taken aback at the sight of the law. He was ready to beat feet at the sight of them, but Zeus' heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him from running.

"Don't scare the boy, Pan," Zeus' exhausted voice rang from behind him, his grip still tight.

"That's Officer Pan to you," the gruff officer snapped as a second officer who matched in appearance to him save for his large red nose stood beside him. "You forget, this ain't your city just yet."

"You know them?" Hades suspiciously shouted at his oldest brother, who barely regarded him with a glance.

"Kronos knows we're in town, we need a place to hide my family, can you take us somewhere safe?"

"Police can't offer you custody," the second officer spoke up this time. "Commissioner Kampê gets a whiff of your family and you'll be taking an extended stay if you don't take a six foot dirt nap."

"Phil, _please_," Zeus pleaded, something Hades didn't expect in such a proud figure. "This happens tonight, I'm sure you can hide us for a few-"

"Zeus," Demeter's soft voice came up behind the gathered group. "Hestia's back from Sicily, you know they won't touch us at the convent."

"Well, let us give ya a ride then," Officer Phil nodded once. "It's the least we can do."

"Hmph, I'm gonna get fired after this is over, and I won't even complain," Officer Pan grumbled as he trailed away from the group and to where the car had crashed that caused the fire. He had yet to block off the area, but with only two officers there was only so much they could do.

"Alright, people get outta here," Pan bleated, his shrill voice enough to rouse any curious bystanders save for one. "Hey, little girl, vamoose, this ain't for kids," the officer shooed the small blonde child who was staring intently at the smoldering husks of four corpses in the car.

As if breaking out of a trance, the girl began to back away, holding close the last gift she had received from her step-father.

Softly, so so softly if you listened close you could hear a withered, whispering voice coming from one of the corpses in the vehicle.

_"Let me go, Kore… Let me go…"_

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***Until Next Time. Simple google search, any of my greek readers out there I'd love to hear if that is correct. Same with Yaya for grandmother.**

**It should be noted that Acheron was a minor god/titan before he was turned into a river. He helped out the Titans during the war as a water boy and Zeus punished him b/c of this and turned him into a river. So that's why he's kind of a minor villain in this. ****And ok so love me or hate me, yes, I made Leuce's father Acheron. I did it b/c poplar trees were supposed to grow on the banks of the Acheron after Hercules discovered them on one of his morning jaunts to the underworld. Also a Homeric epithet for a white poplar is Acherōïda, which explains the connection to them and river gods were known to father nymphs so whatever.**

**Also Hermes! Oh what a delightfully chaotic child. That's the one thing that I really miss on the Disney version of him, he is a boyish trickster, not so much the cool jazzy presence he has in the movie. So it was fun painting him as a kid, and of course he's a newsie! What else would he be? ****Not gonna lie half this chapter exists just so I can prove that Cerberus does serve a purpose for this story and totally not b/c I love him, pass it on. Hades has so much tired dad energy I am pumped.**

**Yeah, they have tokens where they get their power from *shrugs*. This was one of the concepts I was mulling around the most b/c I knew I wanted them to have some form of their powers, but not the full on god-mode so I settled after I began to think about whether or not I make the Hercules sequel with his own medallion thing. **

**As always please fave, follow, and review! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! Oh and next chapter will be the last one for this fic! ~Or there might be an epilogue~ still trying to decide.**

**H-d out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2.9**

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**A/N: Yes, I'm pulling a Kingdom Hearts III if no one caught the reference to the title. So yeah, as I was reworking my outline I realized I wanted to put an in-between chapter before we get down to business and also bc I really wanted to introduce Hestia, and to set up things more properly in case y'know I want to expand this storyline hehe. **

**_Aaaaaaaaaand_ b/c I started writing a post-scene after the fire and felt like this was a good moment for the brothers to start meshing together and get a feel for them more, so who cares if I said 3-shot, this is still my fic and I'll do as I very well please. Yeah it might slow the tone and not give it enough tension but _ugh_ I still enjoyed writing it. **

*****Scenes in Italics denote dreams and memories.*****

**Thanks again to everyone who's stuck on to this story! It's been really fun being able to work on this ****project, but life has pulled me too much away for a time so I'm glad I can finally add more to this!**

**And do yourselves the favor and give a listen to the song mentioned in today's quote. The Dio version (not anime JoJo, but he is where they got the main antagonist's name from) is always the best, but Puddles the Clown gives an excellent rendition if you're looking for a more mellow tune for my non-headbangers out there.**

**Disclaimer: Chapter 1.**

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_ "I cry out for magic, I feel it dancing in the light._

_It was cold, I lost my hold_  
_To the shadows of the night._

_No sign of the morning coming_  
_You've been left on your own_  
_Like a rainbow in the dark."_

_\- Rainbow in the Dark, by Dio_

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The sensation of burning smoke still filled his nostrils as Hades closed his eyes trying to rid himself of the tension that was building up inside of him. Something didn't sit right with him. Of course what did about any of this? The return of his brothers, the chase, the revolver he found hidden away in Iasion's shop, and then the fire that had raged before him. A terrifying, yet beautiful sight that would have entranced his eyes again, but he kept his eyes tightly closed, fearing the fire was an omen of things to come, or maybe from the fear that it was no longer there.

He heard someone calling his name, but he was too enraptured in the pull of the heat in his memory to listen. Warm, comforting, pulsating heat prickled his skin like a siren's song in his ears promising everything and more if he dared to peek. He wanted to look again. To see the wild, unquenchable thirst of the flames that matched his own ambition.

Offering no further restraint, the young man's eyes languidly opened once again hoping to fill his sight with the wild tongues of red and yellow flames as they greedily consumed the childhood home of his oldest brother. Where he had stood so far away from the conflagration, the intensity of the heat was felt from where he stood, but he had not minded it one bit in the August afternoon. He'd only ever seen the tiny wisps of fire from matches whenever great uncle Erebus or great aunt Nyx lit up their collection of fine Cuban cigars or Kronos and his uncles as they ate through an entire pack of cigarettes in an hour. But this? It was like his dreams. A conflagration that had haunted him for as long as he could remember, if only his dreaming self realized it was beautiful and not the nightmare he always thought it to be.

But by some force of prodding via a wooden spoon digging into his shoulder, Hades was yanked out of his thoughts as a bowl of soup was held out to him.

"Eat up, sweetheart, you're a growing boy, y'know," a nun who appeared to be somewhere in her mid-thirties with skin the color of dandelions and the owner of the threatening wooden spoon. Her dark maroon eyes were welcoming and warm like a fireplace after a long day playing in the snow as she offered him a motherly grin. She would have been considered very beautiful underneath the long dark robes of a nun, but Hestia couldn't care less about how she looked.

"I am _not_ a kid," Hades snapped, pushing the bowl of soup away, but doing so only reminded him of his own hunger by the sloshing of the steaming bowl riddled with vegetables and chunks of chicken that promised the same warmth the nun's smile radiated. He felt his teeth chatter without his volition, the sensation of water droplets sliding down his skin and soaked shirt were like an unwelcome guest to a party. He wanted to feel warm again after walking through the freak thunderstorm that came outta nowhere, but here he was shivering in an orphan's measly bed while his pups slept comfortably dry next to him.

_Lucky yutzes. _

Sure, the two cops Pan and Phil, did transport all of them to the Church of the Sacred Flame like they promised, but not everyone could fit in the offered cars, and he was the odd man out walking behind the cars in the pouring rain. He had half a mind to split town with Leuce, but his pups were in Hermes' cab still and the growing sense of urgency or was it vengeance he felt to rid the dark stain of his father on this earth once and for all. He didn't care if he wasn't the one to do it just so long as he was a part of it. Just to say he wasn't a coward- _not anymore,_ and to see his father's eyes to finally accept him as a threat and have the tables turns for once.

"Oh shush, Hades," Hera passed by him from where he sat at the edge of the many thin beds that occupied the narrow room and wrapped him with one of the blankets she was carrying. The young man would've shrugged off the woolen covering, but accepted it with a half-hearted shrug. "He didn't mean it, Hestia, he _wants_ to eat," the tall strawberry blonde woman took the bowl from her sister and coaxed it into Hades' hands before he could protest anymore.

With the smell of food in Hades' hands, three little heads shot up in immediate interest, rousing from their slumber as if they were up the whole time.

"And you'd do well to get out of those wet clothes, _young man_," Hestia noted, still hovering over him, waiting for Hades to taste her soup. "Or at least join the children at the fireplace."

Hades passed a critical eye to the growing crowd of kids that seemed to follow his older brothers like chaos to a goose. New faces that belonged to a ruddy faced boy sipping at a bottle of milk who half-listened to the chattering Hermes and a stocky, club-footed boy who lingered behind them, sitting on a bed closest to the fireplace while his cane leaned nearby. Ares, the screaming toddler laid on the same bed, all tuckered out from his incessant wailing. The only child who wasn't in the crowd was a jittery child who bounced up and down in Zeus' arms as he quietly chatted to Phil near the doorway. At first he thought it was a boy with the suspenders on their pants and the button down shirt the child wore, but after closer inspection, the child had long cerulean curls that trailed past her shoulders and a sweet, periwinkle face that was lit up with a grin as she bounced in her father's arms.

Exhaustion lined every crinkle in Zeus' face, but he wore a pleasant smile for the sake of the girl in his arms. You see, the second Athena was released from Hera's grip, she ran straight towards her father, who happily picked her up despite the ache in his body as he bent down to pick her up. Hera had come by to try and take her back after noticing the strain in her fiancee's face, but Zeus had assured her he didn't mind. Still, Hera kept an eye on the pair, ready to step in and take the child should Zeus finally give in to his fatigue.

"Thanks, I'm-" Hades lifted a spoonful of the hearty soup in an attempt to get the nun off his back, but noticing his hesitance, Sister Hestia shoved the spoon in his open mouth. Hades spluttered, but his tastebuds began to sing in harmony at the contact of the flavorful soup upon his tongue, practically moaning out the rest of his sentence, "- _good." _He quickly coughed reaching already for a second spoonful while his pups began to climb on top of him to get a lick of the tasty smelling food.

"_Mhm_," the nun smugly grinned, reaching over and began to scratch underneath one of the pup's chin. She'd been taking care of orphans for so long she knew how to get them to eat- one bite was all it took when she was the one cooking. "Well, if you change your mind, there's an extra pair of socks waiting on the mantle over there," she gestured with her wooden spoon before returning her attention to Hera and together moved over towards Demeter where she stiffly laid on a similar bed next to their grandmother far from where the rest of the kids were.

Her daughter, Kora, sat by her side, just as jittery as her cousin, but for a much different reason as she pulled at Demeter's hand whispering words into her that did not sit right with the pregnant woman.

"Hush, dear, he's not here," the matronly woman murmured, her hand rubbing circles into her swollen belly. Her breathing was becoming more ragged since they had arrived to Hestia's church, but she blamed it more on her own hormones acting up due to the tension she felt ripe in the air. With everyone's voices intermingling together she could not get an ounce of peace in this dimly lit room; while faces new and old filled up the seemingly shrinking room as some children chose to run around. It didn't help the pouring rain that pinged around them, the thunder rolling and the branches near the sparse windows thumping against the shutters- it was enough to drive a woman _mad._

"Now let mama, rest," Demeter tapped her daughter's hand, closing her eyes in an attempt to find a moment of peace.

"But mama I talked to him just now in the fire," the small blonde child pleaded.

"_Kore Persephone Eleusis_, I've heard _enough_!" Demeter snapped more harshly than she realized in her overly hormonal state. "I have put up with this for _far_ too long. A girl your age is too old to have imaginary friends! Now go with your-"

"I am not making it _up!" _Kore roared, standing up from her kneeling position as her hands were gripped angrily at her side. Her eyes became watery, turning her already pink complexion even more red as she stamped her foot in growing frustration. _"Why can't you just believe me for once?!"_

Every head turned in the vicinity to hear the raged girl's pleadings, but Hestia and Hera, her aunts, swooped in to deflate the commotion. Hera moved to Demeter's side while Hestia went to Kore's and promptly led the girl away. Both sisters knew they didn't want to push Demeter into early labor with all the stress going on and tried their best to subdue the rising tension by separating the two.

"Kore, do you want to help me pass out food for everyone?" Hestia tenderly whispered, wrapping her arms around the girl's slight shoulders.

Kore sniffed and quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her wrists before just in case her frustrated tears fell. "… _Fine_," the girl muttered stiffly, but anyone who studied her knew she was not putting this out of her mind just yet.

"I see the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree," Poseidon huffed, setting himself next to Hades with a matching bowl of soup in hand.

"One of yours then?" Hades dryly commented as he fed the remaining soup broth to his greedy little pups.

Poseidon grimaced, his eyes gaining that thousand mile stare a sight Hades never expected on such a jovial sailor. "Nah, that honor goes to the Sicilian, I suspect."

"_Cryptic_," Hades deadpanned. "Keep that up and you'll be a sadder and wiser man the morrow morn."

"_Humph_," Poseidon grumbled. "And here I was ready to spew out the history of my paramours to my innocent little bro-bro."

Hades rolled his eyes at Poseidon's image of him. "Let me guess? Every woman in this room?"

Poseidon took a large breath ready to refute the bold accusation, but deflated the more he thought about the truth to that observation. "… _Hera_. I never tried _anything_ with her. "

"But ya did have a crush on her at one point after- give me a sec' to think about it," Hades dramatically paused, studying Poseidon with a crooked smirk. "_Hestia_ rejected you, so you went down the line."

Poseidon sputtered. "_No_, Hestia is a woman of character. Upstanding, kind hearted, seven years older than me, and-"

"-She joined the convent," Hades finished for his brother.

"- _And_ s_he joined the convent_," Poseidon repeated with a tremble in his voice; almost like he was still in disbelief about it. The sailor dramatically lifted his palms to the sky as if screaming to the higher powers: _Why. _

Hades rolled his eyes. "_Yeah_... that's rough, Po-po," Hades tapped his brother's shoulder in mock sympathy. This was why he much more enjoyed the company of dogs. The young man suddenly felt the back of his neck prickle as if someone was watching him, and shifting his attention away from Poseidon while he drowned in self-pity, Hades found his gaze focused on Zeus as he lingered near the door still deep in conversation with the short, gruff officer. The second they noticed he was looking back at them, though, the two of them shifted their attention back to each other, but he didn't miss the frown that creased the officer's face as they did.

_Why had they been looking at him? _

"Zeus doesn't look so good," Poseidon whispered into his ear finally after finishing his soup.

Hades couldn't help agreeing with his brother for once. "What gave it away? The faltering optimism or that he's actually frowning for once?"

"I told him not to exhaust himself," the sailor grumbled, ignoring his baby brother's cynicism. "That sort of power drains the body. He'll be passed out before the meeting even begins."

"What meeting?" Hades' hand froze mere inches above the pup's heads, their eyes enraptured on the spoon that held the tasty broth. "I thought we were marching over to Kronos' mansion after dropping off the broads armed with nothing but my brains, your creepy fish powers, and Zeus' debilitating need to talk about his dreams for the good of our fellow man."

Poseidon shot his brother a wary look that made Hades squirm underneath his squinting gaze. It almost reminded him of their great uncle, Erebus, right before he was going to get a lecture, but seeing it on his stocky older brother almost made the illusion fade. "We can't go in there without a strategy, c'mon, Hades, and here I thought you were witty."

"Please, it's not my wit ya gotta worry about," Hades gestured offhandedly towards their oldest brother.

Poseidon shook his head. "I know you harbor some resentment towards Zeus… I mean I did too when I found out he was my brother, _and_ when he abandoned me too," Poseidon admitted with grim reluctance.

Hades had not expected those words to come out so blatantly. Of course he had had suspicions that they weren't working in tandem, but the admittance? "Really?" Hades inquired in a skeptical tone, feeding another spoonful to the nearest pup, and alternating between the three.

"Course I am! He escaped the life _we_ had just by some shoddy chance of being born before Ma married Kronos. One whole freaking year. I mean that's why Amalthea took Zeus in, she was a midwife for one of Nyx's daughters was it Hemera? No. Nemesis? No, that's crazy she'd never- but _anyway,_ Ma couldn't handle the scandal and chose not to bring him out into the public until after they got married. Course she couldn't tell him either after he split town when he murdered Ouranos."

Hades felt his mouth fall in shock not expecting anything of that sort, but it explained so much. It was never a secret growing up that he was the son of Nyx's niece, Rhea, though the two rarely ever interacted. Growing up, Nyx had told him stories about his mother, of a time when she had lived with her while she was pregnant. He had always assumed she had lived with Erebus and Nyx while she was pregnant with him, but then if that were the case where was Poseidon in all this? "Nyx never told me…"

"I suppose she never had the chance, huh?"

Hades felt the uncomfortable feeling of shame rise up in him. Truth be told he didn't let Great Aunt Nyx close enough anymore to ask. "Guess not."

"Trust me when I say I know what living with Kronos is like," Poseidon huffed. "From birth to sixteen almost seventeen. That's seven more years than you," Poseidon angrily shook his fist in the air before clearing his throat and spat into Hades' near empty bowl right as he was serving another spoonful for his pups.

_"__Why are you like this?"_ Hades scowled, but Poseidon was on a roll, choosing to ignore his baby brother in his ramblings.

"I endured it too," Poseidon reiterated, his sea green eyes flashing like the ancient mariner of old who stoppeth one of three on the way to the wedding march. "The ridicule, the abuse, my childhood was spent with him, and it took the recklessness of Zeus to inspire me to run. He was a friend first, y'know, the brother I didn't know I had. Just like you," a twinkle of mirth sparked to life in his eyes, bringing back the young man hidden underneath all that hard grime as he affectionally shook Hades' shoulder.

"… _Oi_," Hades snorted, rolling his eyes. He always thought he was alone in his situation, who knew he'd find connection with his brother of all people?

"Now look at us, bro-bro. Life hasn't been easy to us has it?"

"Guess not, but why would it?" Hades set his bowl aside, allowing his pups to begin licking it clean while he began to remove his soaked shoes. "I've never done anything to deserve it."

Poseidon looked at his brother thoughtfully before he opened his mouth. "When you've lived your whole life in the midst of a storm your whole perspective on the sea is one of a cruel and malevolent god, but once the storm passes you'll find that there is such things as fair winds and calm seas. It is not the fault of the sailor for his misfortune, just the current of the ocean. You'll see that when father's reign of terror is over."

"You and your sea metaphors," Hades jokingly rolled his eyes, forgetting his usual snark. "I've never even _been_ to the beach, much less on a boat."

Poseidon stared at Hades in absolute horror. His own brother had never seen the sea? "Well, then," the sailor brought his brother into an unexpected one-armed embrace, gesturing wildly like he was presenting him to the sea right at this moment. "I know what we're doing after this chapter in our lives ends. Before you know it I'll teach you how to sail, to taste the sea breeze on your tongue like our ancestors of old when they first sailed the waters of the wine dark sea."

"_Great_," Hades snickered at his brother's dramatics, but in all honesty, he couldn't help but get excited about the idea of seeing _anything_ that wasn't this godforsaken city. Yet for all his musings, Hades snapped out of his reverie. How could he forget that he was skipping town tonight? Whatever life he could have with his brothers was of no consequence to him, his family was and has been Leuce. There was too much bad blood here, too much in this city he wanted to forget and a fresh start was what his heart truly longed for, but on the flip side, he actually didn't hate his brothers? All those years he spent cursing their names each time he was beaten, bruised, burned. He had been completely and utterly alone through that.

Nyx and Erebus had tried to get Kronos to lay off him, to let him live a normal childhood, but his father was a constant foreboding presence in his life the moment Zeus and Poseidon fled the city. Sure, his adoptive parents made sure he went to pedantic private boarding schools to separate him and Kronos as much as possible, but every summer he went home, he was waiting. It was half the reason why Erebus kept waving university in front of him and pestered him about going to law school. He would become an asset, but if Kronos was gone, what danger could there possibly be anymore?

_If. _

So many if's. Was Zeus thinking about them too? Hades gaze landed once again on the imposing figure of his oldest brother as he began to use the doorframe to support his weight and the girl in his arms. His face was pleading, almost kowtowing to the short officer's hardened gaze. How could they follow someone who was faltering by just standing?

Feeling a sense of urgency rise within himself, Hades returned his attention to his sailor of a brother. "Po-po, ya mind spilling the deets about the meeting? Are the broads involved or are we expecting more company?"

"You'll see for yourself," Poseidon simply replied, his eye flitting towards the broad figure that creeped sluggishly towards them.

Neither a greeting nor a word slipped out of Zeus' mouth as he handed the girl in his arms to Hades.

_"__What do I do with this-"_

"Athena, this is your uncle Hades," Zeus placed his hand atop his youngest brother's shoulder. "You make sure he doesn't leave your sight, al- al…" The man faltered in his speech and Hades felt his brother's grip on him falter.

"Grab him!" Hades shouted, but he didn't need to as the stocky middle brother was already one step ahead of him.

Jumping to his feet the second he saw his brother's eyes fluttering, Poseidon was behind Zeus and wrapped his arms under Zeus' armpits before he could fall. Living with sailors taught the stocky man to identify signs when one of his crewmen were about to pass out from dehydration or heat stroke. Quite a common occurrence especially with the newly enlisted who knew little about living on a boat in the middle of the seas. "I gotcha," Poseidon grunted, dragging him towards the nearest unoccupied bed.

The second Hera heard Hades' shout, Zeus' fiancee was on the move and already prepped with a wet cloth in her hand which she placed on her beloved's forehead. "Darling, what did I tell you," the woman shook her head, doting over her passed out fiancee.

"Alright, kid, vamoose," Hades shooed off the little girl who was thrown in his lap.

Athena opened her mouth to correct her uncle on being called a kid instead of her proper name, but the young man was fast, leaving the little girl with her jaw still hanging open to an absent audience. Even the puppies her uncle left behind did not lift her mood, she much preferred birds; dogs were too yappy for her taste.

"Let me see him, Hera," Poseidon brushed his brother's fiancee to the side and began to repeatedly slap the sides of his bronze face. "C'mon, Zeusy ol' boy, time to wake up now."

One of Zeus' eyes tiredly lifted its lid before it drooped down once more, too exhausted to overcome the call of sleep.

"I told that barnacle brain to lay off the lighting bolts, but _no_, I'm just the silly sailor," Poseidon grumbled, not giving up on his attempt to rouse Zeus from his slumber.

"Po-po, you keep hittin' him like that you'll put him in a permanent nap. _Say_ that isn't such a bad idea. Keep it up, babe," Hades quipped, earning a hostile glare from Hera. "What? I'm tryin' ta lighten the mood."

"Poseidon, maybe we should let him rest," Hera lightly intoned, making Poseidon backup as she set herself on the edge of the bed Zeus didn't take up; which wasn't much considering how large his body was and the way his feet dangled off the bed a good foot. Hera caressed the handsome face of her fiancee and felt him react to her touch in his exhausted state. "Nightfall has yet to pass and Prometheus with it. You'll need both if you wish to stand a chance against Kronos."

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_," Hades tone suddenly became defensive at the mention of his cousin's name. "No one said anything about that wise guy showing up."

"Oh, Hades he's our ticket in the mansion," Poseidon explained.

"No, _I'm_ your ticket," Hades gestured at himself with his flailing arms. "We don't need to involve mister know-it-all, I mean the guy's the son of that two-faced _blockhead_ with the foresight of a ton of bricks, how can you trust him?"

"He is _our_ cousin, Hades, and we can't fault him for his parentage when we have Kronos for a father!" Poseidon snapped, and when he was greeted with silence, the sailor straightened himself up, putting a cap on his outburst. "_Now_ I'd try to rest if I was you. We have a long night ahead of us." Poseidon huffed, and for once Hades did not have anything smart to say.

* * *

_Floating in his unconsciousness, Zeus felt like a cloud after a heavy thunderstorm. All his energy was spent and with it his lightning bolts and the drive he had just hours earlier. Now he was like a lone, puffy cloud in the middle of the sky set adrift by the slightest breeze in the sky. After all that show of force and strength, he was reduced to his tuckered out state lost in his own dreams._

_But not just any dream, dear reader, it was the very same one that greeted him every night he lived in this city from the moment he could develop memory. He stopped having it the moment he left, but ever since he had returned, so too did the dream._

_Zeus found himself once more enthroned in a kingdom of clouds, flying through a sky like a bird on high, observing the people on earth like little ants. He was the king of the skies, the day and night his playground, the mountains his hideaways, and the sun, moon and stars his vigilant guardians. He didn't know why it was such a recurring dream, but it was peaceful. He had everything he could ever want lazily enjoying his dominion._

_Well, until the giants showed up.__Without fail, no matter where he hid, the giants would always find him hidden away on a lone mountain, but Zeus had learned early on he had power to stop them in their tracks._

_Giants made of frigid ice, tempestuous cyclones, searing lava flows, and one made of the same substance as the lone mountain he defended. In each dream, they came to disrupt the peace in the land, and as the four of them reared back their mighty powers, he would always summon the powers he had learned from living in the skies, but it was never enough. Despicable and vile these Titans of nature may have been, but they were united._

_However, he was not a little boy anymore._

_Clapping his hands together, Zeus felt a charge of energy building inside of his hands and began to form it into a bolt of lightning. Rearing back his muscular arm, Zeus steadied his aim and breath. It took every ounce of his concentration to steady the energy from becoming amorphous once more, but he could only hold it for so long._

_Zeus roared a mighty cry and hurled his thunderbolt at them. The man's eyes followed the bolt in trepidation as it soared across the sky towards the Titans, but just like every time before, they were ready._

_The Cyclone Titan lunged in front of his brothers and redirected the bolt with the assistance of the Ice Titan's monstrous breath. The Rock Titan lumbered after the bolt and threw a boulder at its tip, making sure the Lava Titan would catch it within its greedy mouth to lessen its interminable hunger._

_"You are alone once more, Zeus!" the Titans jeered, and with their awful powers unleashed their fury upon the man who tried to usurp them._

_Zeus heard himself scream as ice and lava began to coalesce together and rise around his body. He tried to squirm and break through the prison as it began to inch closer to his face, but he stopped his struggles as a dark, flying chariot manned by creatures the color of the space between stars rose to greet him._

_This wasn't part of the dream!_

_Enraptured by the sight of the rider manning the chariot, Zeus felt a strange sense of familiarity come over him. Yet something about the rider was off, and that wasn't even considering his flaming azure hair or the ancient Greek clothes he wore. It was his face. He recognized it, but at the same time he didn't. It was sharper, longer, _older_._

_"I'm the one giving orders _now_, bolt boy," the rider seethed with a bitterness to rival red wine._

_He knew that voice, he knew that snark, and that was when Zeus realized who the rider was._

_But his pleas were silenced as he was completely encased in the hardened stone._

* * *

Zeus jerked awake to find the lovely face of Hera peering down upon him as she dabbed a fresh, cold cloth on his forehead. Every single one of his senses was on overdrive, a feeling which was overly exacerbated by the pounding in his head. Sweat covered every inch of him, and all the man could do was force his eyes to stay open. The last thing he wanted was to relive his dream, _especially_ with that new ending.

"Nightmares again, dear?"

"With you around I doubt how my dreams can be anything but sweet," Zeus tenderly wrapped the hand she had on his chest and brought it to his lips.

Hera fondly shook her head and helped him as he struggled to sit up. "You don't need to lie to me."

Zeus breathlessly leaned on the back wall as he tried to regain his bearings. It was only now that he realized he heard someone shouting on the other side of the room. "How long have I been out?"

"An hour at least, Prometheus just arrived here with the blueprints of the mansion."

"How'd he know we were here?"

"We're in the twentieth century, darling. The archbishop has a phone."

"... Oh, of course," Zeus made a move to join his brothers and cousin, but Hestia joined her sister in blocking the man from even getting off the bed.

"Tsk, tsk," the dandelion nun tutted. "Look at him, Hera, he can't join the squabbling in his state," Hestia exclaimed, handing him a bowl of her steaming soup.

"Hestia's right, darling," Hera passed a wary glance at Hades and Prometheus as they argued over the best entrance and exit to Kronos' vast estate. "Look at those two, they can't agree on anything!"

"Why of course I'm right," Hestia concurred. "This is almost exactly what happened in the Great Herring War!"

"The Great Herring War?" Zeus inquired.

Sister Hestia stared at Zeus in bewilderment. "_Yes_! Between the Lindstroms and Johanssons!"

Hera held back her sigh of displeasure. "Oh not this again- Hestia, how about we let Zeus get back to his meal, hm?"

"Oh alright, but I'll enlighten you next time," the nun promised him.

"I can't… wait," Zeus muttered in between slurps. He had to give it to Hestia, she may have been a little out there, but her cooking was a divine talent!

With nothing to distract him but the large bowl of soup, the man sat in silence reflecting on what was to be done from here. The conversation he had with Phil as he was falling asleep was still fresh on his mind and he couldn't forget it as he threw his ideas around.

_"Phil, are you sure about what you saw?" Zeus practically begged, his eyes struggling to stay open as he soaked up every word the officer said._

_"Hey, I saw what I saw, but your little demonstration you got planning ain't gonna work. I don't care if Hera's getting the suffragettes- prohibition schmoes _whatever_, I've seen what happens when things get outta hand at these sorta things," Phil grumbled in his heavy voice. "Your S.O.L, and he's even got _my guys_ out there making sure no one even strikes a match to light a cig."_

_Zeus felt his shoulders slacken as the very plan he had been cooking began to fall apart, but he was still far too stubborn. "Wait, Phil, what if you divert their attention away-"_

_"Look, Zeus, I've done all I can," Phil exclaimed, in his still gruff, weary voice. "We're friends, but I can't out-buy what your old man's paying. You forget, the whole city's on his side cuz money talks. Maybe you should just run while ya still can. I mean even if ya get him to sign the papers- it don't matter. His lawyer has a million ways to sue you before you even get the lint in your old man's pockets."_

_"Trust me when I say I don't have to worry about his lawyer anymore," Zeus waved off Phil's warnings. "Let's just say I found some commonality with him thanks to my _bargaining chip_," he lowered his voice into a whisper as his eyes flicked towards Hades where he sat feeding soup to his pups just long enough for Phil to get his message across._

_It was the first thing he did when he came back to the city after his nine years on the run. He knew zero to nothing about laws and wills and inheritance; all he knew was that he had to find a way to wrest the family fortune and company Kronos' control before he hurt more people. The years he had grown up, gobbling up any information related to the steel manufacturing company, and the more he searched the more evidence he found of wrongdoings. Things he didn't even know were illegal until his more sagacious friends he made across the country clued him in on racketeering, extortion, and illegal gambling systems._

_He wanted to fix all this. To take what was made broken by Kronos murdering their step-grandfather and make it right. To give back to the hundreds of hands who were wronged at the hands of a man who controlled their very lives. But how could he start? He had nothing- barely twenty dollars in his pocket and the daughter he raised like a son. He knew nothing on how to even begin toppling an empire until he came across Erebus in Chicago._

_Even if Kronos died, not a cent would go to him- it didn't belong to him, Poseidon, not even Hades, Zeus learned that day. It was obvious he'd never even be listed on the will since Kronos wasn't legally considered his father, and from what he'd learned from Erebus, their father had other children that were not Rhea's as well._

_"I knew you weren't carrying around that hoodlum just cuz he was your delinquent brother," Phil snorted. "I've had my eyes on that one for a while- not a thief, I'll give 'em that, but I'd keep your eyes peeled. Kronos and his cronies don't call him the runner for nothin'. First sign of trouble and he'll leave ya in the dust. He and that shopkeeper Acheron got some beef, and experience tells me it's gotta do with that daughter he got. Kronos nearly up and killed the kid after the shopkeeper found them doing God knows what, but I take it he's alive cuz of his brain. Kid's sharp, he knows his way around the city, and it's not cuz of lack of experience."_

_"I appreciate the guidance, Phil, I only wish you could help," Zeus sadly smiled._

_"Hey, I've already stuck my neck out for ya enough, but because I like you, just so we're clear," Phil gruffly exclaimed. "From here on out we never saw you."_

_"Oh Phil, you don't need to-"_

_"I mean it!" The short officer snapped. "I don't want to see you again tonight, or I'll be forced to do my job."_

Zeus brushed the memory aside, but one detail was starting to become very clear to him as he prepared himself for the melee he was about to join. He couldn't let Hades be involved in storming Kronos. He was going to make him stay here away from whatever evil would be done. He was going to keep his soul clean.

* * *

Hades decided he didn't just hate his cousin, he just wished he had given him the cement shoe special a long time ago. "No, no, that's stupid, Me-thee," the young man used the nickname he had given his cousin after a spat years earlier. "You want ta get in undetected, you go in through the sewers. The guy's got running water for the entire mansion and the surrounding gardens, and knowing him, he won't even notice us sneaking in through that way. Where," he began to motion his hand over the map, but realized he needed something more to further explain his plan. "Jeez, does anybody got a button or a piece of lint? I gotta visualize here."

"What if you use the puppies?" Hermes piped up from the space he was watching in-between Prometheus and Hades as they stood over the rickety table that was covered by the map the former had sketched from memory. Hermes held up the excited pup who was glad to be back near his master after he had left them unattended on the bed.

"Hey, grownups only, now beat it!" Hades turned in a flash and snatched the pup from out of his hands and upon noticing the other two in the ruddy faced child's grasp- who looked even pinker than before- proceeded to take them off his hands as well. "You too, milkman."

Hermes and Bacchus snickered at Hades' reaction, but scampered off when Poseidon spoke up. "Run along boys, this is boring for me too!"

Prometheus wore an amused expression on his bronze face as he watched Hades cradle his dogs against him as he continued to gesture at the map, forgetting his previous need of having objects to depict himself and his brothers.

"Weren't those the pups you were supposed to get rid of?" The handsome blond man pointed out with a grin in his sparkling teal eyes.

"Don't try and change the subject on me, okay, babe?" Hades snapped with a heated glare.

"Alright, alright, but sonny, you're talking nonsense," Prometheus waved off Hades' suggestion. "I've got the disguises for Zeus and Poseidon and everything that goes with it," he gestured to the garment bag he had thrown on one of the beds. "Our uncles and fathers are on their usual retinue of drunken debauchery and I convinced two of the staff to take the night off. They won't suspect a _thing_ seeing a couple new faces. Course not _your_ little mug," Prometheus shot a wary look at his youngest cousin.

Hades began to simmer as frustration boiled in his veins, but he kept his cool. "So how's job searching with that art degree working out?"

Prometheus face began to twist at the sass his baby cousin dished out. He had half a mind to retort about his girlfriend, but decided it was beneath him to drag himself to his cousin's level.

"Bro-bro, Prometheus, let's all take a breath, okay?" Poseidon cut in, trying to defuse the rising tension between his brother and cousin. Those two had been going at it the moment the latter stepped in not even five minutes ago, and the sailor had no explanation available to why. Did Hades see a lot of Zeus in Prometheus? "I'd like to remind both of you knuckleheads we're on the same side. Right, Prometheus?"

Poseidon passed a look to the handsome bronze man crowned with a head full of golden curls as he stood toe-to-toe with Hades. The older cousin dressed in a sharp sepia colored suit grinned down at his thin, younger cousin who wore old dinghy clothes that were slightly drier than before. "I've never disputed that."

"Hades?"

The young man tried a smile but it came out as a sneer. "Hey, same here, babe."

"Good, good," Poseidon heartily laughed. _Good Lord, when was Zeus waking up?_

"Now as per my plan," Prometheus drawled on with a sharp poignant look at Hades from the corner of his eye. "Kronos after several rounds of drinks will be unstable, floundering about until he sends everyone away where he will retire to his office. He might invite his brothers in if they decide to talk business or show off his latest trinkets, but that is where you have a chance," Prometheus finished his spiel, tugging at his short equally trimmed blond beard.

Hades' interest pique at the mention of Kronos' curios. The vast collection of Ancient Greek antiquities he had been collecting for as long as he could remember was all under lock and key in his private office, and from what he had heard from whispers from his family and anyone with a whiff of gossip, many of the items were stolen and bought off in some shady under the table dealings. What was Kronos' obsession with them was anyone's guess, but after seeing both Zeus and Poseidon in action with their little tchotchkes and the powers it gave them, maybe their father was interested in the power they could give.

Y'know maybe he could find something in there too. Be as powerful as his brothers and maybe get the power to teleport or run faster than anyone! For a second he considered the possibility of being able to talk to animals, but he decided he didn't want to hear what his pups thought of him. Well, if all else failed being super strong would make his life a whole lot easier. Sure, he could throw a mean left hook, but even he knew his strength paled in comparison to Zeus'. It helped being that big, and though he was still growing, he envied the fact that no one would pick a fight with him based on his physique.

But whatever was in his father's sanctum, he felt tense about the prospect of going back there.

Hades had once dared to go in, and that memory left a sick feeling in his gut. _He had him- all it took was one little squeeze of his finger and they wouldn't have to deal with this._

"What if he isn't drunk?" Hades asked without any prompting.

"Ah, now _that's_ where plan Beta comes in," Prometheus bent down and opened his case and removed a bottle the color of aquamarine from within its contents. "Y'see, Kronos can't pass a drink, no matter the circumstance. Practically a month ago I had Demeter prep me with a concoction and the resulting substance was none other than-"

"_Lethe_," Zeus enunciated through gritted teeth, from behind the group.

"How'd you guess, Zeusy old boy?" Prometheus turned around to face the cousin who invited him over in the first place.

"Experience," Zeus weakly smiled. "So tell me what took you? I hope it didn't take you too long to finish up the map."

"I'm a sculptor not a sketcher, but I hope this is fine," Prometheus gestured Zeus forward to inspect his work. "Just a little something _art_ school taught me."

"Keep telling yourself that, Me-thee," Hades mumbled under his breath, earning an elbow from Poseidon. "When did youse guys even dig this guy up?"

"Oh we stopped by his ritzy apartment not long after we saw you. He even gave us lunch and we were able to get into contact with Hermes," Poseidon whispered.

"You mean to tell me you remember everything that happened while drunk?" Hades deadpanned.

"I'm a sailor," Poseidon harrumphed, jabbing his thumb into his chest with a prideful look on his face, "It comes with the territory."

"Prometheus, this sketch is astounding," Zeus exclaimed in wonderment, alleviating some of the weariness that still clung to him like snow on a pine tree. "I hope no one got suspicious with you drawing this out there."

"Oh please, this was all from memory, couldn't you tell?" Prometheus smirked.

_"Oi."_

"Now as I was explaining to Poseidon and Hades," Prometheus continued. "I got you and Poseidon some disguises. I know they might recognize Poseidon, but _you_ are the wild card in all this. Kronos, nor the uncles know your face-"

"But he's six foot seven, two hundred and forty pounds give or take twenty pounds," Hades pointed out. "Guy with that kinda build sticks out even among the Titan family."

"_Hm_," Zeus tiredly rumbled, just now realizing how much he towered over his family. Prometheus was the closest to his height with Hades just inches away. Poseidon was the shortest of the brothers, but even then he was still over six foot, and what he lacked for in height he made up for in his stocky tank-like build. "… He _does_ prove a point, Prometheus."

The sculptor sighed. "_Fine_, then wear the disguises as a precaution. The staff will still give you looks, but with you wearing it they won't second guess it. So get through the servant's entrance and then-"

"Or you could sneak in through the basement window in the back right here near the gardens," Hades pointed on the map.

"We've discussed this, Hades," Prometheus tutted.

"Not while he was around," he motioned his thumb at Zeus.

"I have an idea," Poseidon spoke up. "What if we use it as our egress?"

"But is it even there?" Prometheus skeptically noted.

It suddenly began to dawn onto Zeus why their cousin was being especially suspicious to his baby brother's motivations. They had met up with Prometheus _after_ they had been tricked by Hades, and he had explained their situation after Prometheus scrounged up a vial of Mnemosyne, though their was only enough for himself. Hence, why Poseidon was still a lumbering mess in the subsequent hours. However, it was plain to see Prometheus' attitude towards Hades had some background to it that he was unaware of due to his absence from the city for so long.

"I trust him, Prometheus," Poseidon rallied behind Hades, earning a look of surprise from the young man. "Who else, would know how to get out of a tricky situation, anyhow? You, Prometheus? I seem to recall a time you got caught playing with matches during seminary in the back row."

"Alright, alright," Prometheus sighed. "I'm just trying to keep you alive."

"You mean ol' _Me-thee_ doesn't want to jump into the fray?" Hades teased, a sardonic edge to his words.

"Please, even _I_ have the foresight to know this is a terrible idea," Prometheus tensed. "I just don't want to be the putz who joined the wrong side if you do win this. So if you _do_ manage to wrest the family fortune and estate from Kronos' other children _and_ his lawyer. We'll be in touch," the blond man cheekily smiled.

Hades quieted. How _was_ Zeus going to get the company, the estate, the money? _All of it._ It didn't belong to him, not even Poseidon. They disappeared nine- almost ten years ago, and if they did go through with killing Kronos then whoever was his heir would get everything. Like Prometheus said father dearest had other children. Chiron came to mind first, that good for nothing sixteen year old had more power in his gang than he did. He was just the mutt, the messenger, the junkyard dog! What chances were there that he was the heir? And what if the will went to their uncles, his lawyer, what then? Even with his limited knowledge on the laws behind such things it was through lawyers and a corruptible judicial system that allowed people like Kronos to continue on without a bat of an eye. What if their whole venture fell through because of this one insurmountable oversight?

Zeus shook his head in amusement. "I thank you for your help, Prometheus. I will not forget your kindness _and_ your honesty."

Prometheus began to pat his side and procured a golden pocket watch from his pocket. "Hey, I wanted to help more but you understand why I can't," the blond man's voice softened into a sorrowful tone.

"Trust me, I want no part of this sordidness either, but it's what must be done."

"Hm," Prometheus nodded, a small grin forming at the corner of his lips. "Give Sister Hestia my love then, and keep an eye on that _one_," the blond man eyed Hades skeptically before waving good-bye. Inching towards the door Prometheus sent an abrupt nod in Zeus and Poseidon's direction and left as quickly as he came.

With their cousin gone, Poseidon quickly spun on his heel turning to Zeus with a quickness Hades didn't expect. "Well, how do you feel? Ready to storm the castle?"

"I feel like I was just run over by a locomotive train heading West to Chicago," Zeus grumbled, and with a deep lumbered sigh sank down onto the nearest chair.

"You mean to tell me three little bolts of lightning and your energy is kaput?" Hades deadpanned.

"It's not as easy as it looks," Zeus sighed, rubbing his hands against his face to keep himself awake. "All that power- it was not meant for mortal men."

Poseidon begrudgingly agreed. "I know what you mean. First time I set sail my ship got caught in the middle of a hurricane. My crew told me I was in a coma for days after I managed to get us out, but that power- that feeling of being in control of something so mighty it nearly _killed_ me."

"So how'd you manage?" Hades inquired.

"A bottle of well aged Texan whiskey," the sailor declared in a booming whisper. "Those boys had been saving it for our Shellback initiation- y'know the Pollywog," Poseidon attempted to explain to his confused brothers. "Bah- _civilians."_

"So what I hear is we gotta get Zeusy's heart pumping with something more than just the dreams of the betterment of mankind. I know Lethe's outta the question but-"

"Maybe we can snag us some sacramental wine!" Poseidon grinned like a school boy ready to indulge in the crime of the century.

"Yeah, steal from the church!"

"_No_, we're not stealing from the house of God," Zeus deadpanned, but before he could offer up an idea he felt a tugging on his jacket, and turned to none other than little Athena her gray eyes wide and pensive.

"_Daddy_, I think Kore's-"

_"Tell me in a little bit, darling,"_ Zeus whispered and kissed the girl on the top of her head before sending her away. "Let's just ask Sister Hestia."

"Fine, fine, do it the proper way," Hades grumbled.

"Hestia, do you perchance have any strong alcohol at your disposal?" Poseidon inquired, nearly shouting at the nun who was hovering over her grandmother at the other side of the long room.

"How strong?"

"The strongest you can muster!" Poseidon's voice boomed across the room, attracting the eyes of all the children in the room.

"Oh alright," Hestia turned away from Amalthea and strutted towards the fireplace where the children were listening to Hermes spinning a tale about cows and wooden shoes. Without the slightest hesitation the nun swooped down and snatched the milk bottle in Bacchus' hands and made her way towards the brothers. "Here, this'll do the trick," she handed the bottle to Zeus.

The strapping man stared at the bottle in bemusement, but on closer inspection, the milk bottle was actually just painted white on its exterior, successfully masquerading whatever liquor just so happened to be in the bottle to look like milk.

Three faces of utter bewilderment greeted the nun who returned the look, but equally more confused. "Is something wrong?" Sister Hestia twittered.

"How … How did you know he was drinking liquor?" Poseidon mumbled.

Sister Hestia blinked. "What do you mean?"

"That kid can't be more than eight- how did…" Hades attempted to explain, but the blank stare he received from the nun made the young man hesitate. Before he could push it further, Poseidon patted his shoulder, signaling him to drop it.

The three brothers shared an uneasy glance between themselves and after accepting the situation, they shrugged it off. It did not do to question the mind of a nun even if one of them was her adoptive brother.

"Bottom's up then," Zeus lamely cheered, and pressed his lips to the bottle. The strapping man choked at the unexpected kick of the alcohol that passed through him, but after taking a large swallow, a fire began to pulsate in his heart, spreading into his veins. Whatever weariness he had began to ebb at the burning sensation that filled his throat, setting in a numbness that eased the ache in his body. A dry wheeze was the first thing out of Zeus' mouth as his now watery eyes took in the expectant faces of his brothers.

"Well, how you doing?" Poseidon smugly chuckled.

The broad man turned his attention to the nearest window and took in the darkening skies and the sound of the city life getting steadily more quiet. Night was fast approaching, and he could still smell rain in the air which meant there would be less activity as the night progressed. "If we leave now, we can be there by the time it's dark."

"_Great_," Hades abruptly stood up from his chair and began to set his pups down on the nearest bed, wrapping them up in the blanket he was given earlier. "Let's beat feet then. You two get in the frilly outfits while I go find some crowbars, baseball bats, whatever I can scrounge in this God- _oi _\- never mind."

Poseidon's gaze flitted towards his oldest brother. "… Zeus?" His voice became tense, almost pensive.

Zeus regarded the sailor with a hardened look, his eyes flitting over to Hades. "Get changed," he ordered in a hushed tone before Poseidon had the courage to ask him what he really wanted to say. "_Quickly_."

"Hey, _Hades_, let Athena help you find what you're looking for," Zeus called out to his youngest brother, stopping the young man in his tracks.

Hades inwardly groaned.

The little girl with cerulean curls quickly darted to her father's side upon hearing her name being mentioned in the compact room. "Daddy, daddy, daddy, I think that Kore-"

"Athena, how about you go help your uncle Hades find where Auntie Hestia hides her tools, hmm? Specifically the ones hidden in the kitchen in the third cupboard on the right. And _then_ you can tell me what's pestering you," Zeus winked, booping Athena on the nose.

The little girl pouted at being interrupted once again, but she was used to this type of behavior every time she began to blather about the things she had read in her library books from her father, her cousins, her almost step-mother, and especially her half-brother, Ares. Setting aside her own mission, Athena promptly grabbed her uncle's hand before Hades realized what she was doing. "Alright, father," the girl suddenly adopted a dignified tone she only ever used around strangers that was a mix of deflated acquiescence and well-tempered disposition.

"Follow me, uncle Hades. I know precisely where Sister Hestia hides her effects," the girl articulated with perfect diction.

Hades stared at the girl in bewildered suspicion, trying to gauge how a child who looked no more than six spoke better English than him. He felt a prickle of unease that he was being pulled away from his brothers, but this wouldn't take too long anyway. He'd be back in a flash and get back to business.

"Now why does _she_ like him?" Poseidon grumbled, reappearing dressed in a waiter's outfit complete with a jacket with long penguin like tails and a matching black bow tie made in an expert fashion. The Navy taught him to be quick about dressing himself when they woke every morning long before dawn broke on the horizon, and now was no different with a well-oiled perfection.

"Don't start, we need to get moving," Zeus grabbed his own garment bag and headed for the only private room connected to where the orphans slept which was more and likely Sister Hestia's room based on the solitary bed in the humble space. "I just bought us five minutes."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hestia doesn't have anything weapons or tools in the kitchen- well maybe a bottle of arsenic, but that's besides the point. Now, we can't have any slip-ups, you remember what happened last time we tried this," Zeus began to strip himself down.

"Is that why you want him here with the girls?" Poseidon asked, helping Zeus get into a long sleeved white shirt.

Zeus did not reply, instead choosing to focus on the buttons of the dress shirt. His forget-me-not colored eyes flashed a dangerous violet light that reminded the sailor of lightning and the violent storms that accompanied them from all his years at sea.

"This is his fight too, Zeus," Poseidon reminded him, his voice unusually guarded as he helped tie the bow around his brother's neck.

"And this fight infringes upon Hades being safe," Zeus bluntly snapped. "Whether we get father to sign the papers and admit his guilt or not, we depend solely on Erebus. It's how we made it this far- why I'm still alive after being here for six weeks for starters."

Poseidon sighed. "He wants payback too, Zeus. He'll never forgive us for this."

"It doesn't matter," Zeus shook his head. "We're doing him a favor. Even without the deal with Erebus. The last thing I want is for Hades to follow father's footsteps, you heard what the old women said, and my-," the broad man cut off himself before he could speak about his dream. He didn't want to pester Poseidon a man of the sea with things that were ephemeral. Sailors were the superstitious type and he didn't need his brother to be caught up in the irrationality of dreams. "Seeing what could be a massacre- it scars children. He may be a man today, but he's _still young_. As young as we were when we tried to kill Kronos before we escaped with our lives. You understand me Poseidon, you were there when our country joined that Great War nonsense back in April."

Poseidon lowered his gaze, finally understanding Zeus' adamant decision as he followed his brother out of the tiny room and finally out of the church. It would break their brother's heart when he realized they were gone without him almost reminiscent to how all of this got started, but it was something that could be forgiven after all was said and done. They could even get Erebus to confess to it being his idea to show they really wanted to let him come.

"Taxi!" Poseidon shouted.

"And I will make sure he keeps his soul," Zeus exclaimed with finality, his voice thundering as rain began to fall down harder, but surprisingly they found that not a drop fell on either of them. Thunder began to roll once again, drowning out the voices of those they had left behind in the church as the wind picked up, sending discarded newspapers and trash flying. The broad man noticed Hera and a few faces of the children gathered to see the two of them off in the window. Their expression somber like they were watching them pass like a funeral parade.

"Even if it's at the cost of our own."

* * *

**A/N: Why did I make Hestia a nun? B/c I love nuns. I grew up with them, and it wasn't b/c I went to a private catholic school or anything; I don't have money. They just flock certain areas in society that I was in. One such nun was Sister Agatha from Ireland and she used to always come visit me every now and then, and every time I think of Hestia I see her as a precious bean who hates contention. And of course she's comical that's Betty White's twist to the character! Shout out to Zabbie Q for introducing me to the GG for extra laughs!**

**Also my knowledge of the Navy is only b/c of my father who sailed with them for many months, so thanks!**

**In case you're wondering I based Zeus' height off of Hercules' canon height from a book of Disney concept art I found a year or two back. So yeah tall bois, and shout out to my sister for helping me for once, I absolutely cannot talk to her about fanfic but when you're stuck in a car with her for seven hours she eventually caves. Course she wanted Zeusy to be a straight up seven footer, but even I know that is too too much. Prometheus being included was her addition too, she was like_ hey wasn't he a big help during the Titan War_, and I was like _hey_ you're right! Thank God for American high schools throwing Greek mythology into their curriculum!**

**All criticisms are welcome as long as they are appropriate and hey- my PM box is always open if you have criticisms about the story but wish to not make it public.**

**And you bet that I am super psyched for the next chapter! **

**As always please fave, follow and review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

**A/N: Doing a three shot was a bad idea, and I am not afraid to admit it. Let's just do this the way it should be.**

** Without further ado. **

**Disclaimer: Chapter 1**

* * *

_"Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."_

_\- Deuteronomy 19:21 (ESV)_

* * *

You could always tell something was up with a woman when she didn't look at you the moment you entered a room. The human eye was by its nature attracted to movement, so it was no surprise when Athena entered the room followed by a disgruntled Hades that every pair of eyes flitted towards them except for Hera's. The solitary figure with her hands behind her back leaned against the wall near the door. A strange sight to see on a woman who didn't seem like the sort to slouch or have the air of a wistful, waiting person. Her body tense and ready while her mind was elsewhere but her forget-me-not blue eyes remained dazedly locked on the children on the other end of the room.

There was an excited chatter coming from that same group of children emitted in loud whispers. Their voices carried over to where Hades surveyed the room, trying to pinpoint the source of their sudden elation, but was at a loss. Something had happened during his quick absence thanks to the whims of a brainy little girl who couldn't stop going on and on about the annoyances of her little brother and her odd fixation on owls.

Athena, though, was the first to realize what was going on. For all her enthusiasm and relentless savviness that her parents and caretakers found particularly maddening whenever they tried to get her to sit still. One quality had developed in her that none ever expected. She was perceptive. Because perception bred opportunity.

Athena's gray eyes searched for her father, hoping that she could finally tell him what was bothering her after he had sent her away- _twice_ now, but he was nowhere to be seen and Uncle Poseidon for that matter.

"Miss Hera!" Athena zipped to her father's fiancee, who regarded the girl with a pleasant smile.

"I told you, dear, you can call me mother now."

Athena brushed Hera's words aside with a quick blink. "Do you know where my father went? I wanted to tell him something urgent!"

Hades found himself walking with heavy steps towards the girl and his future sister-in-law. His ears tuning in to their conversation, blocking out the other noises in the room. Time seemed to slow as he approached the pair, his heart steadily increasing with each step as realization began to dawn on him the more he watched Hera's face. The only reason it had yet to break was because of the hope that still bloomed in his heart.

Hera's smile fell at Athena's observation, and with a quick glance upward she found Hades' baleful eyes waiting to return her gaze. The sight elicited a silent gasp from the woman, having never seen a look so despairingly betrayed.

"He's gone, isn't he."

There was something deeply bitter and loathsome in the way Hades spoke, making the boy Hera saw in front of her sound years older than he appeared. Hera straightened. Whatever she had hidden behind her back, she gripped it all the more tightly.

Not waiting for Hera's response, Hades barreled towards the door, ready to chase after them, but a sudden _click_ to his right froze him mid-swing of the door.

The hands Hera had hidden behind her were now in front of her, arms extended forward as she trained a revolver towards his shoulder. "_No_. You're staying here," she signaled him away from the door.

Athena stared wide-eyed, her head lolling between Hera and Hades. "… Miss Hera?!" The girl's voice rose, garnering the attention of the occupants of the room to the enfolding conflict, extinguishing any and all noise save for the pair in conflict.

Hades lifted a lazy brow at Hera, not expecting such a kind, motherly woman suddenly adopt such a demeanor as he slowly released his grip on the door knob and close the door with a soft _snap_. Walking a step away, Hades half-lifted his hands in a begrudging surrender. It wasn't the first time someone had put him in this predicament, but as a betting man and the way she had the barrel fixated not on his chest, he knew she had no intention of killing him whatever he ended up doing;_ unless she was a bad shot_, he reminded himself. "Do you know how to use that, Hera?"

"Did you?" Was Hera's sharp reply.

Hades uneasily gulped, a grimace stretching his face as he flinched.

"Hera, what are you doing?!" Demeter cried, lifting herself off her bed in a hurry. She didn't have to go far for her bed was positioned the closest to the door. As fast as she could muster, the heavily pregnant woman wedged herself between Hera and Hades. _"He's just a boy!"_

"He can't leave," Hera shook her head. "He's _Erebus_' boy."

Whatever Demeter was about to say, hesitance began to rise up in her face as she understood, but Hades was quick to bite in.

"Excuse me, babe, but I fail to see why that makes any difference," the boy stifled the scowl he knew was threatening to emerge on his face.

"You don't know?" Demeter turned around to face the boy, a sympathetic expression on her round green face that was framed by short red curls.

"Know _what_?"_ Oi, he hated this guessing game._

"It's why Zeus didn't want you to join him, _you're_ the bargaining chip," Hera clarified in a hushed voice.

"Bargaining chip?! I'm- _I'm_ the leverage?! FOR WHO?!" Hades began to shout, but after hearing what Hera called him, he already knew and that realization drew a sick feeling into his gut.

"You're great uncle! He helped slip Zeus into the city, helped us hide from Kronos and spirited Demeter's husband away after he helped you."

"All this to kill Kronos?!" Hades voice began to increase in frustration, but as he yelled those words even he knew the real reason.

_"__To save you!"_ Hera roared with twice his intensity. "That day you stole from Kronos, he knew who did it. He was going to kill you, but Erebus stayed his hand. He convinced your father that they could use you to lure Zeus and Poseidon and knock off the loose ends."

Hades began to sputter, his own quick-witted mind lethargically grinding its gears as he tried to make sense of it all. "But- but that means-"

"They're walking into a _trap,_" Hera cried, her voice breaking as she muttered the final word.

Her words stunned Hades more than a bullet could've. Without another word, Hades' hand began to lift and set upon the door handle, his mind already made up on what he had to do, but Demeter's small hands stopped him. "No, son, let the men handle it."

Hades felt frustration boil in his veins at what Demeter was really calling him. "Not while I got breath in my lungs will I let Zeus make this his show."

"But they have powers- you are as mere as us!" Hera's voice reminded him.

"Powers? Since when has that ever been-" Whatever Hades was about to retort was thrown by the wayside as Sister Hestia hurried to Hera's side, a puzzled expression wrinkling her otherwise smooth face.

"Girls, is Kore with you?"

_"__I thought she was with you?" _Demeter's face suddenly became ashen. Wasting no time the pregnant woman began to waddle towards the children who were huddled in one area in case Kore had wandered to sit with them, but she didn't need to as Athena finally took her chance to speak.

"She left."

Hera dropped her stance and crouched down to Athena's level. "Why didn't you say anything?"

_"__I was!"_ Athena exacerbated with a heavy sigh. "But father was too busy and I noticed her absence about the same time Mr. Prometheus arrived."

"Well, I'm going to be your mother soon, dearest, you can tell me anything," Hera lightly reprimanded the girl as she made worrying side glances to Demeter who's body language began to show the same impatience she saw in Hades.

"I have to go find her," Demeter began to uncontrollably spasm as if she was holding back a sob. "She's been going on and on about her step-father and I think she believes he's here-"

"Demeter, just _look_ at yourself," Hera protested. "You're due in less than a month now-"

Hades looked between the two arguing sisters and began to tread slowly towards the door with their attentions diverted, but as was in his nature he couldn't turn away without saying something. "Well, ladies, I'd love to stay and chat, but I got places to be and people to-"

"Hold it!" Demeter sharply snapped, and without any sort of warning, Hades' felt a tiny hand reach out the door and grip him by the back of his collar, yanking him back up the three stairs and into the church.

_"__Demeter, what on earth?!" _Hera shouted.

Hades felt his body twist and wrench as he was forced to turn around only for the pregnant woman to once again reach for his collar but this time from the front, and pinned him against the wall with a _thud_. The young man stared down in fear at the short woman, her green hand crumpling his already crumpled shirt as she pressed into his neck.

_Jeez Louis, what was it with the babes in this family?!_

"You want something to do, young man?" Demeter enunciated through gritted teeth. "Well, you're going after my little girl."

"Look, babe-"

"_Mrs. Eleusis_ to you," her small fist pressing into neck even harder.

"Fine, _fine_ _whate_-" Hades felt his windpipe begin to constrict.

"Don't sass me, boy. I've wrestled with goats and pigs bigger than you."

_"__Yes, Mrs. Eleusis," _Hades grunted, and instantly felt sweet relief as the woman released her hold on him. Even though she hadn't lifted him off his feet while she pressed him to the wall, he felt himself slouch without her keeping him so ram-rod straight.

"Demeter, he's staying here," Hera reminded her older sister. "_I'll_ go."

"No, he's more trouble here," Demeter eyed Hades warily, her steady, steely gaze the only thing nailing his feet to the floorboards. "I know that look and the second we turn away he'll run. And what'll we do then when you go after Kore?"

Hera did not answer.

"All the trouble will be across the bay where Zeus and Poseidon are heading. That means he'll stay out of harm's reach when he goes after her," Demeter hastily explained, her bottom lip beginning to quiver. "_Please_, Hera, not tonight of _all_ the nights."

Hades felt impressed by the pregnant woman's thinking. Demeter knew how to read people better than he first perceived. All mothers seemed to possess that ability, but her more so. That meant he had to watch out for her in the future. Someone with critical thinking skills always had him more on edge than someone with a fully loaded weapon.

"Now, _go_!" Demeter warbled, finally unmasking her desperation. Her chest beginning to heave and her eyes became filled with tears. The desperate woman hurriedly pushed Hades out the door in quick successive shoves. "Bring me back my little girl!"

Hades felt her small hands begin to reach for him and without any protest, he was unceremoniously tossed out of the church and into the pouring rain.

_Oi, back to square one, _Hades internally grumbled and took off, the thundering warring clouds above him unrelenting in their task the way they rolled and cried their fresh tears upon the urban jungle.

"Do you think he'll go after her?" Demeter cried softly into Hera's shoulder. Her younger sister began to bring her into a tight embrace.

"I know he will, he's _Zeus_' brother," Hera assured her sister, but her own words lacked its usual soothing confidence. Maybe it was time to seek out the help of Father Argus.

* * *

Out of all the things in the world, Hades hated rain the most. Snow at least had the decency to clump together and stick to the outside of clothes or skin like a frigid piece of lint, but water could never be suppressed; it got in everything, weathering away all defenses no matter how long the task took. The fickle thing refused to capitulate to the stubbornness of things etched in stone. It didn't help he was dressed in a simple shirt and jacket with worn trousers for the summer time, so Hades was immediately drenched by the time he had gathered his senses for the remainder of the block.

He had continued on the route that would've led him to the burned down building they had fled earlier, but now that he was sure Hera or Demeter weren't watching him anymore, he paused his strides. Allowing his lungs to catch the air he had so desperately tried to catch. Hiding underneath a building with a slightly elongated roof enough for him to get out of the rain, Hades began to reorient himself.

This street was full of crumbling, decrepit buildings that would've cost less to demolish than refurbish because of the amount of disrepair it was in. In the whole perimeter, not one glass window was left un-shattered, and every door was boarded up by planks of wood. Only rarely did you find a building not tarnished with smoke stains creeping up their walls, or remnants of brick missing throughout the now shoddy construction. There were other areas like this one scattered throughout the city that were used as examples, but the damage wrought here was nothing compared to how much this street suffered when they refused to back down to Kronos' demands when Ouranos died. The first to rise up and the first to mark the decline of hope.

He still could remember the night eight years ago when Hyperion was allowed to spread Kronos' ultimatum- accept the changes in management in Ouranos' company and revoke the lawsuit they had been threatening him with, or have their homes destroyed. In this city with prices what they were for affording an apartment it was an incredibly ludicrous claim. Destroy their homes? It was more likely he would drive them out by buying the buildings on the streets. So they prepared themselves, and signed contract after contract with the actual owners and tenants of the building to keep their leases even if the complexes were sold to a different owner. Even Kronos for all his meddling could not circumvent the laws that kept him safe.

No one could've predicted for what would happen.

The only reason Hades had missed out on the spectacle despite being under his father's custody at the time was because Great Aunt Nyx sent Nemesis to steal him away before he got caught in the mob as they set fire to everything. They came in the middle of the night, like ravens before a battle they converged on the street pushing people out on the street- most if not all once loyal workers to Ouranos' steel factory. Now it was no secret there was something crooked about his spending and the lavish estate he built through under the table dealings and organized crime, but between him and his step-son, Kronos, the latter became the greater evil soon after the example he made.

All those hundreds of hands that had once lived on this street continued to do so, but now on the literal pavement. After that event no one dared question Kronos' authority in the city, kowtowing and keeping him happy. Yet for those who had not listened even after they begged for forgiveness, he made sure they were left in their squalid state and sent many of the men to prison, blaming them for causing the damages done to the buildings they once lived in. Everyone left who wandered the street were either the very old, the sick, and many women who had their fathers or husbands in jail.

And now, they were no doubt doing the same thing he was, hiding underneath any crevice to shield themselves from the rain.

But the pressing question at the moment was what was he going to do? He could worry about Demeter's kid later. Nothing bad ever happened in the rain, _well_, spontaneously at least. Premeditated that was a more likely chance for something to go awry when it came to people.

And he _needed_ to get to Kronos' estate _pronto, _but that just so happened to be all the way across the expansive bay, far from the urban population in a more secluded area. The only way he could catch up to his brothers now was by hailing a cab because if he walked there he'd make it there by tomorrow!

"Okay, let's see here," Hades began to frantically pat himself down, checking every single one of his pockets. "No cash- wait, _no cash?!" _Suddenly, Hades remembered how Hermes had bumped into him when they were first walking into the church. _Oh that lousy, grabby little yutz. _"Great, great, just _great_ where am I supposed to get the money for a cab? _Heh_, unless I get a boat," Hades sarcastically grumbled.

But an idea began to fester in Hades' head as he took note of the crowded homeless around the area. Many of them were sick, or old, or too incapacitated to stand any chance against him. Some of them might have money thanks to all the people taking pity on them.

_What if he-?_

_No_, Hades shook his head trying to think of another way. But what if he asked nicely? He could always repay them handsomely once he got a hold of Kronos' money. _No_, no one was stupid enough to believe something that sounded like a lie.

_Or maybe you should give up and just go get Leuce and split_, another internal voice whispered in his ear. Hades considered it for a second, but felt himself hardening his heart as something stronger than the love he felt for her began to course through him; a spark landing on a dry blade of grass. If they got rid of Kronos, Mr. Acheron could never complain to him about him being poor. Him and Leuce would be set up for life, he told himself. All he needed was a chance.

Eyeing the many homeless that were splayed out along the soaked street, the closest to him was a sickly thin woman holding a baby to her chest, an old rickety man who rocked back and forth in a frantic manner, and a group of three haggard old women who were all huddled together in a pile of blankets. Hades instantly recognized the latter as the old hags he had to deliver a bottle of Lethe to every day. _Bada bing_, they were blind. That meant they wouldn't see him stealing their cash, nor would they notice it gone. He'd look like a god to them when he turned around tomorrow cash flowing out of his pockets like water in a fountain and generously set them up in a nice apartment in Astoria.

Now with a victim in mind, Hades prepared himself for the onslaught of rain that would greet him once he stepped out of the roof's reach. Hades held back the curses that were running through his mind as his shoes squelched underneath him and the pellets of rain began to soak his already wet shirt.

He could see a little bowl waiting there just for him to take from where the three hags sat on the steps of a building. Cautiously making his way up the stairs, Hades reached out his hand, his fingers floating above the bowl, silently counting the money in his mind. _Seven dollars and two silver half dollars._

The glittering half dollars seemed to shine back at him, and Hades couldn't help but gaze at the image of some supposed goddess of liberty who headed Westward, carrying with her a heap of branches that leaned against her shoulder. She was heading towards the sun, her arm extended out as if to encourage others to follow the path of the sun and go into the Frontier where she and the brave and the adventurous were called to go.*

Carefully reaching into the bowl, Hades' wrapped his left hand around the bills, but his ring finger lightly brushed against one of the coins causing the two of them to lightly _clink_ together.

A bony arm shot out and grabbed at Hades' wrist before he could pull away. A startled cry escaped his mouth as more hands began to reach out and grasp for his other arm, their grips wiry but strong with a force unexpected in such feeble and debilitated old women.

"Lord Hades Chtonika, son of Kronos," their raspy voices bellowed in unison, their hands finally releasing their steel grip on the young man who fell back in his attempt to free himself.

Hades hissed at the contact of his back on the wet asphalt and laid there in pain as rain still poured down on him. He was trying to process what they said, but he heard his name. They knew his name… _They knew his name! _

How many months had he visited them? How many tepid mornings did he come visit them just to see them ignore him while they greedily consumed the bottle of Lethe he gave them? Never even bothering to give him so much as a greeting.

"Rise, and accept your fate."

Quickly getting to his feet, Hades rose to greet the hags he had tried to rob as they all crookedly stood, their bodies gaunt and hunched, passing judgement upon him like ancient gargoyles on a cathedral's perch.

"Hey, full offense, yeah, I was trying ta rob ya blind, but admittedly- take my word for it- trust me on this- it's for a worthy cause," Hades exclaimed in a hurried fashion, radiating awkwardness with every one of his words. "So, if you got the need to lecture me- can we save this for another time- like does next Tuesday work for you? I think Monday I'll be attending a funeral and you know how big those things get when public figures are involved."

"Your father was cruel choosing you of all his myrmidons," the shortest hag exclaimed in a lower, gravelly voice.

"Our favorite no less," tsked a softer, more endearing tone, but still matching in that dry raspy voice that belonged to a corpse.

The three of them began to descend down towards Hades and encircled him as he bemusedly watched them do so, wondering what the hell was going on.

"But there is still much that can be unraveled," the tallest one harrumphed, her long blue nose peeking out from underneath her hood.

"To get things back to our original design," the shortest one lowly cackled.

"_Oi_, what are you three babbling on about. I just need-"

"You wish to reach your brothers before the final blow is struck," the three hags once again exclaimed together. Their tones striking together a foreboding chord amid the doleful strokes of the bow.

Hades stared wide-eyed, his jaw slackening at their perfect guess. First his name, then his quest- next thing you know they'd know the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow. "Can- can you run that by me again? Sorry, I was just-"

"Oh no, my sweet Hades, we wish Kronos' death as much as you," the green hag twittered, pausing in front of Hades to admire his face despite the empty black sockets that peered into the young man's eyes. Her twisted, deformed fingers reaching out and stroked his chin only for the young man to recoil at her touch and her looks as he finally managed to make out her face. "He has tried to avoid us after nine hundred and ninety nine times-

_"Clotho!" _The tallest hag shouted, a warning in her tone.

"- And nine hundred and ninety nine times we've undone his meddling," Clotho hastily finished.

"Yeah, okay, you got me," Hades tried to push the hag, Clotho, off of him in the least abrasive way possible. "I am completely and utterly confused right now, but I've learned my lesson. I'll never steal again _etcetera, etcetera,_ _etcetera, ciao_!"

"Aren't we forgetting something, son of Rhea?" the shortest hag, Atropos, held out the two silver half dollars between her fingers, stopping the young man in his tracks.

A chill went up his spine at the mention of his mother's name. He couldn't remember the last time someone had said her name for fear of inciting Kronos' mercurial wrath even in their hushed whispers in the dark. Whipping himself around, Hades squinted through the rain and made out the glittering coins she offered in her gnarled fingers. "That'll barely get me four blocks," he deadpanned.

"Not for the ferryman it won't," Atropos wickedly grinned, revealing her blackened gums and unusually sharp teeth. "Seek him out on the ship of bone and ghost and he shall get you to Kronos' coast."

"_Finally_, we're getting somewhere," Hades reached out to take the offered coins, but the hag snatched them back.

"Uh-uh-uh," Atropos tsked, her free hand rose. The lone index finger she wagged swung back and forth; a foreboding pendulum in a grandfather clock. "Patience, boy, the coins will only get you to the next world. They shall get you no further when you confront Kronos."

"I'll have my brothers, and they'll have me," Hades swore, rain droplets continuing to drip down his nose as he reached again to snatch the coins, but the tallest hag stood in his way.

"As a mortal," Lachesis reminded him, her head bobbing, making her long nose look like a scythe. "But we can reveal how to regain some of your former self so you can triumph over Kronos."

"What do you…" Hades sighed. He couldn't take the riddles and the rain, and the verse, _oi_, it was like listening to the derasha in the synagogue. He just needed to go along with it to get out of this faster. "Fine- _what do I need?!"_

The haggard old women shared knowing glances as they regrouped together in front of him despite not having one eye between the three of them.

_"Seek out the girl who stole your fire. Find her in the remnants of a pyre."_

"_Oi, _are you talking about Demeter's kid?" Hades snapped to attention.

_Wait a sec'_, Hades thought, no longer paying attention at the moment. Zeus' adoptive family- the old goat, said there was once something in her apartment for him, but she had lost it. Had the girl found it? Was this an object just like his brother's tokens? And had its powers aided in her escaping the church without anyone noticing?

_"Within her hands she holds your fate, every rise and fall and bitter stalemate."_

Hades' felt a sudden thrill erupt inside of him at the idea of being given powers to make himself an equal to his brothers, and now that he knew where to get one? A mere millisecond before Hades took off to find Demeter's daughter, the harridans blocked his path, their words pouring forth.

_"Once more the brothers three shall clash, for Kronos' reign must end in ash."_

"But a word of caution before you go," Atropos lowly warned, her single socket trained squarely on Hades' disgusted face. _"Your father's eyes are everywhere. If you choose to fight you will _lose_ your maiden fair."_

Hades suddenly shuddered like he had tripped and fallen into an icy pond. That sick ghastly feeling began to well up inside his stomach. It could've been the rain that caused his discomfort after standing in it so long, but then why would his drenching, sopping clothes finally cause the sensation now?

"You're lying." Dismay filled his very soul as he repetitively shook his head, denying the prophecy of the hags.

"Better hurry then," Atropos lowly cackled as she handed him the coins.

"You'll thank us one day, boy." The three harridans began to cackle together, watching as Hades stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet.

_No, no, no… _The chill inside Hades began to multiply and reverberate down his spine as he bewilderedly began to move away from them at first stumbling to regain his balance. Once he regained his footing he ran as fast as he could as if running away from them could avoid the future they were spinning.

_What did it all mean?!_

Hades felt his heart lurch into his throat- that sickening feeling of fear shooting through his veins like a draught of venom the more he processed the words the hags had said. They had given him a prophecy- an honest to Yahweh prophecy like he was some prophet from the Torah.

Just when he thought his dreams were finally coming true, the hags had thrown the metaphorical hammer down on his plans. He should've known all of this was too good to be true- that he could finally be free of the cruelties life had thrown at him.

He couldn't lose Leuce- no she was too good for this world, too beautiful- too _loving_, but was he willing to throw all of what she was to him for revenge? He couldn't, he _wouldn't, _Hades promised himself.

He felt his feet begin to follow the familiar tread towards Mr. Acheron's store, but he stopped running.

Hades was a lone figure in the middle of the street as rain relentlessly poured down upon him. Not one person dotted the street, not one dog or cat or even rat dared walk out to the pouring mess that was only illuminated by the brief patterns of lightning in the sky and the encroaching sunset in the West. Candles flickered inside warm and dry homes, but Hades felt so alone in the middle of such a lively city- it felt like a city of the dead at the moment. A Necropolis and he was the only person in the entire vicinity.

Would he let his brothers die, though? Let the people like the ones at the hag's street continue to get terrorized by an unjust group because the powers at be turned a blind eye?

In a second. Not one had shown their mercy to him. Everyone was using him, Kronos, Erebus, Zeus, Poseidon- _everyone_ and the last thing he wanted was to be someone else's pawn on a chessboard.

But where would be the justice in that? People- the pawns like him didn't deserve to suffer, and it wasn't everyday destiny was calling you forth like sirens to a sailor's demise.

Was this his density then? To suffer and allow the people who loved him to die?

_What if I died from this?_

Hades considered that outcome, his eyes languidly peered down at the flooding street, his golden orbs solemn and melancholic. What if he died trying to protect Leuce after he helped his brothers kill their father? Losing Leuce didn't mean she had to die- it implied he'd lose the chance of being with her- and what better way to lose her than to life?

Hades felt a warm liquid spill down his face. His mind did not register the tears that began to fall freely like tiny streams in an otherwise barren field. He couldn't even remember the last time he had cried. Maybe when he was taken away from Nyx's home when he was only nine. But he had never felt as hopeless as he did now.

He didn't want to die.

Not so soon- not like this.

All the times he told others he wanted to, he never really meant it. And now that he stood at the edge of the abyss, he wanted oh so desperately to turn away and run in the other direction. And yet despite it all, he would rather have his own death over Leuce's- for that he was certain.

But he couldn't do it as a mere mortal.

Adrenaline began to replace the fear in his veins as a fire burst into life in his heart. If he was going to die today, so be it, but it wasn't going to be with him hesitating every choice he made.

With resolution in his heart, Hades stared down at the street, and ran to the closest manhole he could find. The young man lifted the heavy, metal disk up out of the street and slunk down into the darkness. If he was going to play the part of the hero, he was going to do it his way.

* * *

Hades knew the sewers better than he cared to admit. One could even say he knew the underground system more than the actual city, but as he had discovered throughout the years, if you really wanted to get to know something- you had to get under its skin.

Diving into the darkness, Hades was immediately familiar with this area. Down here it was like his kingdom- his escape from all the miseries of the world above. Hades counted the number of steps to his hideaway despite the darkness and hurriedly picked up his lantern and rapidly changed his shirt and the only other coat he had- a long black coat Nyx had gotten him for winter as he replaced his shoes in quick, practiced motions. He knew how to make a quick getaway and this had to be one of his finest egresses. With a light and destination in hand, Hades ran.

The path was narrow and the rivers in the sewers glowed a phosphorescent green as he flashed by them; a ghost in the dark. Down here it was so much easier to get to one place or another because no path was blocked, there was no such thing as traffic, and the only creatures that are nosy down here were the rats and the rare alligators that graced its waters. The sewers also had one other advantage- they didn't always follow the regular streets, meaning he could bypass buildings that otherwise would've been in his path.

Reading the markings he had left in the wall that marked where he was, Hades could only spare a glance at them as he raced past them. His legs were practically like gazelles, the way he dashed, his heart pounding and his lungs aching for breath. The rigid pose he held his arm in to hold the lantern that lit his way was beginning to tire him, but the young man pushed past the lactic acid building in his muscles with grim determination. He needed to move. He already wasted enough time with the hags and his moment of reflection, even if the detour only lasted briefly.

Abruptly halting his long strides, Hades stopped underneath a manhole that dictated exactly what street he was looking for. Setting the lantern down, Hades quickly extinguished the light and carefully began to climb towards the thick metallic disk. Pressing his ear close to the manhole, the young man used a trick he had learned the first few years of using the sewer systems. Apparently, metal worked as a great carrier of sound faster than air would and used this knowledge to his advantage as he tried to scope out the scene without looking like a sitting duck, peeking out. He didn't want someone to spot him should there be company waiting for him. After all; this city was crawling with Kronos' cronies.

Listening intently, all Hades could hear at first was the _pings_ of rain striking the world above him. The constant tiny little hammering sounds were beginning to drive him mad, but that was when he heard it. He heard an automobile door slam. No one in this area could afford a car- much less hail a taxi out here. Deciding he had waited enough, Hades cautiously began to lift the man hole with one of his arms while the other held fast onto the metal ladder. His eyes searched the scene, suddenly grateful for the metallic disk which he used as a quasi-umbrella allowing him to see the scene before him without having water get in his eyes.

Hades had chosen a specific place where he wasn't directly in front of the old apartment building, but rather on the street adjacent to it and far away enough where he wouldn't be caught off guard or ambushed. Something he was hoping to avoid.

Peering intently, Hades observed two black Model T's parked directly in front of the now blackened, sinking building where two men the size of mountains were talking to a wiry cop who was writing down something on a notepad.

_So, Kronos already sent the clean-up crew_, Hades mused .Great, this was going to be a lot harder looking for the little brat with people hanging around.

How did she look like again? What was she like eight- no - maybe nine years old? He was pretty sure she was blonde but that was the extent of his knowledge. He didn't get a very good look at her through the smoke when Hera was rushing down with her and Zeus' little blue brat.

Deciding not to worry about it too much, Hades chanced a glance to his left and right before moving the manhole enough for him to crawl out. The three men were too heavily engrossed to see him getting out- _good,_ Hades thought. He had nothing on him, no knife, no pistol, all he had was his top-notch brain and the fact that no one suspected anything. It was just a routine day for them.

Everything was working in his favor as Hades sneaked forward quickly, his knees bent, half-crawling, half prowling towards the side of the building, obscuring the sight for both the goons and Hades of the other's presence. Rising back to his feet, Hades peered into the cracked and half melted windows that dotted the first floor, hoping one was positioned where he could see from the front of the building to catch sight of what the goons were up to.

Having no such luck, Hades began to think of climbing up the rickety, rusted stairs on the outside of the building, but paused as something caught his eye. A window, not far from where he was positioned was cracked open. A trash can was fitted accordingly underneath it as if someone had used it to help them get out, but then why position a trash can underneath it at all if you were just going to jump out of a burning building. No one would care about falling if it meant escaping the greedy tongues of flames, hell, no one would have the time to procure a makeshift staircase- unless someone was trying to get inside. But who would want to go inside a burning building?

_The girl_, Hades surmised. That meant she already knew about the unwelcome presence of the goons and decided to circumvent them. So why did she even bother coming here? What reason did this old crumpled shell have that instigated Demeter's daughter to run? Did she forget her doll? A locket? Hell, what did little girls even like?

Wasting not one second more, Hades pushed the trash can aside and pushed the window further up to allow his body through. Grabbing onto the sides of the window frame he easily pulled himself inside. Almost immediately, Hades began to cough as remnants of ash and smoke floated into his unsuspecting nostrils.

At first using his hands to stifle his coughing, Hades spotted a long, thin scarf hanging on an untouched coat rack near the door. Not one to ignore his surroundings, Hades grabbed the muted teal garment, shook off the ash, and wrapped it around his mouth and nose to protect his lungs and muffle his coughs.

Before exiting the apartment he had stumbled into, Hades spared a glance at the kitchen and the massive hole after the wood began to weaken with the heat descending from the upper floors where a wardrobe careened down on top of immaculate cabinets that were now stained and shattered, sending utensils, plates, and bowls scattered either in pieces or thrown about like a tornado had flitted through the once humble kitchen.

Ignoring the mess, Hades made his way out, but paused as he felt something underneath his foot. Peering down, Hades snorted at the long, curved two-pronged kitchen utensil used for cutting and carving meat, but no sooner had he spotted it when he heard a high-pitched scream coming from somewhere close by.

Not knowing what to do, Hades hastily scooped up the metallic fork and ran towards the sound. Every single one of the hairs on the back of his neck rose in alarm as more shouts this time like it came from men began to permeate the air.

_They wouldn't kill a kid, right?_ Hades hesitated at his own internal question. Well, he only knew one thing right now. If the kid died- he would be too after Demeter found out, pregnant or not.

With this thought in mind, no longer caring about being discovered or not, Hades raced out the front doors of the building, throwing them aside like curtains to reveal unfettered light, but he bemusedly stood, staring wide-eyed at the scene unfolding in front of him.

_"Holy hell,"_ Hades slowly, almost uncertainly, cursed under his breath. He had to be dreaming.

The three men, two of Kronos' cronies and the officer he had spotted earlier were rooted to the asphalt in a state of fear the likes of which he had never seen- just like himself. He knew the two goons, his cousins, Steropes and Brontes, and not once had he seen a sliver of fear like the one that marred their disfigured mugs.

Not even the one time they decided to steal their father, Arges', revolvers when they were fourteen and he was ten. That night they hid in the many coffins in storage and pretended to have a shoot out with each other until Brontes pulled the trigger and realized they were playing with fully loaded guns and proceeded to leave a flurry of holes in the wooden lids. How they didn't get injured he'd never know, but their father was so mad- _jeez_, he couldn't recall a single gathering where Arges didn't make sure to point out the scar that marked each of his son's faces for their disobedience that night.

And that scar was prominently carried on their face, where their right eye should be- their shooting eye. It was a punishment which quickly quelled any further acts of rebellion and almost cemented the end of their friendship, but Hades hoped that somewhere they still held onto a sliver of loyalty with him.

Now it was like they were back in the morgue, but each one of the men had pulled out their pistols, holding it aloft in a shaky fashion as they trembled in front of the ghoulish sight, preparing themselves for what would happen next.

"-Don't hurt him!" screamed the blonde girl, standing protectively in front of the living corpse.

Hades gaped at the upright corpse the child was trying to protect. Its mutilated and charred flesh looked like a damned soul right out of Dante's Inferno. The tattered, burned remains of clothing covered most of its cadaver, but its form was a nasty amalgamation of melted ligaments and peaking bits of blackened bones where the muscles had once been. Its face was the worst of it all, the corpse now forever grinning that macabre grin of death. If it wasn't for all the years Kronos had forced him to work at the morgue, he would not have been prepared for that sight and proceeded to throw up like Brontes already had the pleasure of doing by the sight of the chunks of questionable gunk to his right.

But how? How was this possible?

The voices of the hags began to ring in Hades' ears as he finally understood the power contained in the little tchotchke- the thing his mother had kept for him but never had the chance to give. It almost disappointed him seeing all it did was raise the dead, but maybe there was more to it than what the girl had figured out.

"Move outta the way, kid!" Brontes shouted, but the girl was persistent.

And that persistence made Hades feel suddenly very cold and agitated at the idea the girl might be caught in the crosshairs. "Hey, over here!" He heard himself shout without realizing.

Hades' sudden presence startled the three men who were already cowering in fear, and fixed their gun on him before they returned it to the corpse in front of them after another second of hesitation.

_C'mon, point your guns at me!_

"Hades?" Steropes sputtered between glances.

"Hey, how ya doin'? How's ol' Uncle Arges? He still tryin ta- y'know dip my feet in cement and throw me in the Hudson?" Hades tried a grin, but felt an uncomfortable sheen of sweat trickle down his face- or was it rain water? He could no longer tell the difference. Taking quick, tentative steps down the front of the building towards the wrecked car that had slammed into an electrical pole, starting the fire, Hades tried to make eye contact with the girl, but she had turned around to speak to the corpse.

"Papa, what happened to you? Mama said you left, but you wouldn't be here if you weren't-" the girl hesitated to speak the word that was threatening to drop from her petal pink lips.

"Little girl!" Hades tried to get her attention. "Uh… _Kore,_ c'mon your ma's looking for you!"

"She's a witch," the wiry officer exclaimed.

Hades straightened at the word, and felt the bitter taste of disdain fill his mouth. Getting as close as he could, but keeping some distance from the goons in case they got a little too antsy, Hades frantically gestured her towards him, but either she was too stubborn to move or she really was trying to protect that freaky living corpse. Amid it all, Hades kept on his false grin, trying to play the part of an idle fool. "Hey don't mind me I'm just taking this girl back to her ma. I'll be outta your hair and we can forget we even saw each other-"

_"No! _I just need to talk to him," Kore insisted, her arms flailing wildly in front of her trying to make them see reason, but unbeknownst to her the living corpse took a tentative step forward, the shaky bones, bending under the unexpected movement.

"_Cuz_," Steropes' large, corpulent face began to shake, his good eye stared at Hades like he was trying to communicate to him, but something was preventing him from saying it out loud.

Hades vision alternated between the girl and his cousin, trying to figure out what avenue to concentrate on, but all manner of thought was thrown out the window as a raspy, otherworldly voice emitted from the corpse to the stunned gathering.

_"Kore, let me go,_" the corpse's jaw clicked open, it's own voice unfamiliar and unnatural like the hard _clacks_ of buttons on a cash register.

No sooner had the corpse spoken, when the cop opened fire on the approaching zombie. Brontes and Steropes followed suit, and Hades did the only rational thing he could think of at the moment and dove towards Kore.

"Stop it, you're hurting-" Kore screamed, but before she could say anything else, Hades slid in front of her because of the slick surface and his own forward momentum and grabbed her flailing arm and dragged her down before she could get hit.

Curses flew unsparingly from his mouth like the bullets the goons were firing and the young man quickly set to work to completely shield her with his body as the three men emptied their pistol's chambers. Bits of the corpse's flesh and blood and tattered clothing flew over and on top of the them, but Hades ignored the rising bile in his stomach as he felt some hit his exposed skin.

"This's the last time I do something noble," Hades grumbled to himself.

"Let me go- _let me go_!" Kore shouted, slamming her fists into his chest, demanding he let her get up, but Hades ignored her protests and wrung his arm across her back and shoulders and began to crawl out of the line of fire with her underneath him.

"Can it, you'll thank me later," Hades grunted, heaving them towards safety.

"Hades, you need to get outta here!" Steropes' voice shouted at him, at last having the courage to speak with the sounds of gunfire piercing the air, his eyes shifting from the fallen corpse to his cousin as he finally made it out of the way.

Quickly rising to his feet, Hades pulled the girl to her's, and kept a tight grip on her arm because the moment his grip had slackened a tiny fraction, she had tried to rush back towards what was left of the corpse. "No, c'mon, it's not safe!" Hades shouted, no longer hiding the desperation in his voice.

"But he's my father!" the girl cried, her magenta eyes filled with tears as she tried once more to escape Hades' grip but he was having none of it and lifted the girl and threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"That's not Iasion, that's just some schmuck working for Kronos- well _was_," Hades grimly corrected. He had met Iasion in real life and he was far from being tall and thin like the living corpse was. Iasion was a shorter fellow with a pleasant belly and short, stout arms, nothing like that gangly, monstrosity who looked to be a mere puddle by now.

With a hand over the girl's waist, Hades briefly considered taking off his long coat to cover her from the rain, but as thunder rolled above him, a cold icy pool began to collect and freeze in his stomach the moment his eyes laid upon the corpulent mountain of a man who stood in his path.

_He was in one of the cars._ The sound of gunfire roused him from his comfortable, dry seat in the back of his automobile.

Hades blanched. Every curse word he knew began to flash through his mind, but he could not find the strength to unlock his jaw to say them aloud.

_Arges_.

Out of all his uncles, he always considered Uncle Arges to be the most unprepossessing of the whole miserable bunch, and the one with the least gray matter on top of it. He was a mountain of fat with a large rotund belly that protruded over his belt and thick heavy arms the size of barrels. Many men had mistaken his tubbiness as a sign of his inability to throw down in a fight, but in reality, the large mass hid all the bulging muscles the Titan family were known for.

Dressed in a russet suit, his uncle lazily fixated his large round eyes on Hades with a sickening smirk, revealing the many gaps in his teeth once he removed the fat cigar from his mouth.

"Well, if it ain't the little mutt," Uncle Arges spat with a leer on his face.

"I don't mean any trouble, I was just passing through," Hades put every once of effort into his voice to sound convincing enough, but all he was met with was a dissatisfied curl of lip.

"So was I. We've been lookin' for you," the titan lifted one of his corpulent hands and began to reach for his pockets. "Word on the street is the rest of your litter is back in town," he added with a chuckle, gesturing towards the burned apartment building behind them.

A shiver of fear began to worm its way across his facial features. _Damn, they knew already. _Hades made a move to lower Kore down from his shoulder, but did so in a slow manner to show his uncle he meant no funny business. "… Kid, listen to me on this-" he held her tightly against his side so she was out of Arges' line of sight should he pull out a pistol in his pocket.

This time, the girl didn't need to be held back to stop her from running. While on his shoulder she had seen the carnage that was done onto the corpse as he had led her away. Sickening realization began to dawn on her of the danger they were in. It terrified her at the prospect that her life was in actual danger, more so because this was the first time something of this magnitude was happening. All because she was stupid enough to bring her father's soul into an empty shell- she felt so stupid now- and guilty for the boy who was risking his life for her.

"Pops."

Hades held his breath at the sound of his cousin's voices.

Brontes and Steropes, followed by the officer began to slink towards them, moving somewhere behind Hades.

"We can take care of the garbage for you," Steropes offered, his eye shifting towards Hades uncertainly as he turned his head to view them.

Hades made eye contact with Steropes. He wanted to smile, to show how relieved he was for them stepping in, but all he could do was slightly nod and gestured with his eyes towards the girl.

"No need, boys. I heard enough to know you already gave it a shot," Arges shooed his sons away with a contemptible glare.

The two brothers shared an uneasy look, and decided it was not a good idea to tell him what they were actually shooting at.

"What about the girl?" Steropes offered, but was immediately silenced by one steely look from his father.

"Humor you're uncle a bit, mutt, but-"

Hades ignored his uncle and returned his attention to the girl. "Run, kid. Get to the sewers. I didn't put the manhole back in place up the street over, so slip through and you gotta run until you can't anymore. There's a lantern at the bottom of the stairs with some matches on its corners, okay?" He hurriedly whispered to the girl who stood just barely underneath his sternum, but did so all without sparing a glance at her, instead keeping a leveled gaze on his uncle.

"-Shouldn't you be with your brothers? What? Did they leave you all alone in the rain?" Arges continued to taunt Hades, waiting for the boy to show the slightest bit of reaction.

The blonde girl wordlessly nodded up at Hades, and with one final look up at the boy's face who gave her a reassuring half-smile, Kore released her grip on his arm. His eyes flitted once down to her, nudging her to run but something held her back.

"I _can't_," the girl whispered, a dark haunting shadow hung itself on her pretty features, making the girl look ancient and macabre in the sunless sky as she tightly held something close to her chest with both her hands.

"I can let you join them," Arges wickedly grinned.

"What do ya mean, ya _can't?!" _

"Erebus isn't in town to stop us anymore," Arges' large hand reached into his coat. "And your pops wants your head on a silver platter."

Hades' heart hammered up into his chest. If his great uncle was gone- "Run- _damnit!"_ Hades urged Kore forward with a shove, but she was just as adamant as before. Hades spared a glance at Arges and saw his hand reaching for his belt. Everything around Hades began to slow. Without a semblance of a plan he picked up the girl and ran.

He didn't even have the time to pick her up properly and pressed her close to his chest, her legs dangling and hitting against his own as he ran. With his arms criss-crossed around her, Kore unwittingly pressed a smooth metallic object against his hand.

And then a lone gunfire shot echoed in the still air.

Hades gasped, the sound was loud and roaring in his ears and on instinct, the young man slid to a stop. Adrenaline rushed in his veins and his eyes were tightly shut. He tried to focus on every single point on his body, trying to pinpoint where he was shot- _but he wasn't._

A scream pierced the air, snapping Hades' eyes wide open. Releasing his grip on the girl who looked up at him with wide magenta eyes, the two of them shared the same confused stare.

But those same screams began to turn into shouts and grunts of pain, pulling Hades' attention away from the girl and to the person who _had_ screamed.

Steropes, his large, rotund cousin was on the ground, writhing in pain where the bullet had hit in the lower side of his chest. Blood, red and definite, began to bubble up and stain the light material of his shirt as it pumped out of the wound.

Brontes knelt beside his twin, shouting his name. "Hey, hey stay with me-"

Hades began to reel. He had tried to get Kore out of the line of fire, and for what? "Close your eyes," Hades whispered to the girl in a soft, pained voice.

When she did not listen, Hades raised his hand ready to cover her eyes, but that was when he felt something in his hand. Curious, Hades opened his hand and there sitting in his palm was a pin in the shape of a skull; its visage was archaic and enraged. Realization began to dawn on Hades as he looked between his uncle and Steropes. How did Arges miss? He never missed. Steropes was right behind them too! It was like the bullet had phased through them like- like-

_Like he had turned to smoke._

"Look what you made me do!" Arges roared as he hobbled closer to see his son cradling his twin. "Now don't move, I'll make this quick," his corpulent uncle lifted his pistol once more, his giant fist trembling with rage.

Hades gripped the pin in his hand all the tighter, and held onto the girl. He was taking a risk, but he didn't care, he needed to see it again. "_Smoke- smoke- smoke_," he repetitively muttered to himself under his breath, his face set in a glower like he was concentrating with all his might as he stared Arges down. His uncle's pistol trained on him from where he stood, barely six feet away.

Hades flinched as another gunshot pierced the air along with Kore's terrified scream. The two sounds coalesced into a horrible dissonance that rattled the bones of all who heard it.

Breathlessly, Hades inspected Kore from head to toe and himself as soon as the noise faded, trying to locate any signs of blood, but there were none. Sweet relief and triumph elicited a short, relieved exhale from him, but it was all short lived as Arges roared in disapproval.

Arges stared in dumbfoundment. His large round eyes, stretched to their max capacity, in unrelenting incredulity before they were besmirched by rage. "How- why you, little junkyard dog."

If it weren't for his cousin dying nearby, the boy would've burst out laughing at the insanity of what things were coming to. Instead, it just emboldened Hades all the more as he stood all the straighter and began to cooly walk towards Arges, but before he did so he whispered in Kore's ear to run. For once the girl listened, and ran from the scene, leaving Hades to confront his uncle without any distractions.

Brandishing the two-pronged fork he had found, Hades kept a level, narrowed gaze. "Try again, bright eyes," Hades sneered.

Again and again, Arges lifted his gun, pulling back the trigger, with well-practiced expertise, as Hades sauntered closer and closer, but no matter how many rounds he shot, no matter how close the range was; not one bullet struck the boy. Arges could only watch in horror as the areas where the bullet was aimed at began to ripple and fade away into some kind of smoke, allowing them to pass through.

Long after the chamber had been emptied, Arges continued to pull back the trigger and spin the rounds, making sure that every bullet had been fired, but even after opening the bullet chamber and finding the empty casings, the titan had to give in to facts. "It can't be-"

"So, gotta ask, humor me if you will," Hades smirked, suddenly enjoying seeing his uncle bend to him in fear. "How _were_ you gonna serve me, huh? Personally, I like my steaks well done, gotta keep it kosher, babe, but not charred- ruins the taste. Now for _you_, I think I'm gonna have to go with something a little _less_ medium for me, if ya catch my drift."

Arges stumbled over his words, his mouth gaping like that of a fish.

"_Heh_," Hades chuckled, twirling the bident between his fingers. "Thought not," the boy raised the metallic utensil rearing it back to strike, but his uncle was fast and socked his nephew square in the stomach.

"You think you can play with me, mutt?!"

Hades felt the air inside him forcibly channel out upon impact. Doubling over from pain the boy fell to his knees in agony and his chest involuntarily bent forward, but his arms caught him in time before his face slammed into the asphalt. He couldn't breathe. All of the air in his lungs were knocked out of his system with such a force he didn't know what _century_ he was in. Managing to bring himself on all fours, Hades began to cough as his lungs tried to suck in ragged breath, but in doing so, the boy watched as spots of blood speckled the ground beneath his mouth only for the rain to quickly wash it away like it was never there.

He shouldn't have done that. He shouldn't have hesitated. Everything he touched while he turned to smoke would also turn with him, so in that second of getting ready to strike Arges, he had solidified and his uncle saw the opportunity and took it.

The boy began to cough more as he tried to suck in a ragged breath, but a looming shadow entered his vision, reminding him of his uncle's presence.

"You little flea, I've fought with the best," Arges stood over Hades and reared back his leg ready to kick him in his feeble condition, but the boy was fast and narrowly rolled away before he could strike him.

Rolling away didn't make his situation any better and the boy began to crawl away as fast as he could manage when realization struck him as bright and fervent as the pain.

_The pin. Where was the flaming pin?!_

"_Shit," he couldn't be careless like that_. Hades frantically groped the surrounding area, but could not find it amid his scrambling- it must've got knocked out of his hands when he was sent flying through the air, the bident too.

Without any warning, Hades felt a meaty hand wrap around his leg amid his searching.

"Where you headed little boy? Not so tough now!" Arges taunted.

Hades felt his leg being pulled from above him, and in a desperate attempt to keep himself grounded, his fingers dug into the asphalt, but to no avail as he was mercilessly chucked across the street like he was a bag of flour.

"You know, mutt," Arges paused in his glee as he watched Hades hit the three metal trashcans he had thrown him against. "This wasn't the first stop we had to clean up tonight."

_I deserve this. _Hades painfully groaned at the sudden wave of dizziness overcoming his senses as he rolled to his side, blood trickled down the side of his mouth. _I need to get up- I need to get up_, he repeated over and over in his head it became his mantra as Hades found some strength amid the pain. Shakily, Hades tried to get to his feet, but he began to sway as he felt Hestia's soup begin to rise in his throat. Forcing it down with a hard swallow, Hades began to feel some semblance of balance return to him and in a moment of clarity, the boy saw the bident at the edge of his vision.

_I don't need the fork, I need the pin!_

Noticing his nephew rising, Arges roared and began to charge towards him, his fists clenched and raised, ready to continue his deadly onslaught.

Hades felt terror strike him as the giant man lumbered toward him. _The fork will do, _Hades frantically decided and booked it towards where he spotted the bident.

Scooping it up, Hades turned around just in time as Arges raised his monstrous fist to strike, but Hades without a single ounce of hesitation, reared back the bident with both his hands and _plunged_ the metallic fork into his uncle's eye.

The scream that issued forth from Arges' mouth was far from the triumphant roars he had hollered just moments before. It was filled with such agony, such _horror_, Hades would never forget the sound that began the crack in his dam.

The last thing Arges saw before he slipped into the blackness was the face of a boy, who's eyes screamed their last breath of innocence.

With his hands still wrapped around the bident, Hades stared in complete dumbfoundment at what he had done. Releasing the steel grip he kept on his fork, the boy took a slow step to the side allowing his uncle to fall down in a heap, the bident still skewered in his right eye.

Hades released the breath he didn't know he was holding and closed his jaw. Looking up into the sky, the boy couldn't help but realize the rain had stopped, but as he peered to the West, there was a clear indication that the storm was headed in that direction.

_Zeus, I'm coming for you._

"Is he- is he dead?" Brontes' voice snatched Hades out of the pit of his mind and back into reality.

"I don't know," Hades admitted in a quiet, sorrowful tone. "Is Steropes-?" Hades did not complete his sentence as he scanned Brontes' face. Taking his silence, Hades spotted the skull pin not far from where he had first been hit and made his way to pick it up.

"Dead or not," the officer slunk up behind Brontes, leaving Steropes' body behind. "You're under arrest, kid."

Hades didn't know how he managed to laugh, but the sound was utterly wretched as he tried to fasten the skull pin in an intricate knot with the teal scarf he still wore. "Cute, that's cute. I just stabbed a guy with a fork, and you're outta rounds. You tell me who's gonna win this round, okay, babe."

"Lay off, Clion," Brontes spoke up his voice hoarse and tired. Stepping beside his father's body, Brontes knelt down and pressed a handheld mirror against his father's nose. The man watched with bated breath as the mirror began to fog up. "… Of course, Pops lives."

"See, you can wipe first, second, _and_ third degree homicide off the table," Hades began to walk away, but an idea stopped him. "Hey, Clion, be a doll and give me your keys."

"You wanna take my wheels, _pal?!"_ Clion shouted, his peculiarly loud and grating voice made Hades groan at the cacophony he made. "You got some set of -"

"Heh, I _think_ you misheard me," Hades walked right through Clion and watched in amusement as the officer turned around in confusion, the wheels in his head turning on how he managed to pull such a feat. "I need your keys for a good cause- _my_ good cause, and _you_ need to get this poor bastard to the hospital, so if you wanna wipe your hands clean helping scum like him out- give me your keys and maybe I _won't_ set up an investigation on the whole department after this is all said and done."

"He's Kronos, son, Clion." Brontes warned the officer.

Whatever Clion was about to say, the man began to awkwardly grin. "Did I call ya, pal? Sorry- so sorry, Mr. Titan, sir, here take my keys. Hell, I'll give you my house keys too, you just say the word and I'll-"

Hades nodded in Brontes' direction, thanking him for bailing him out. Slinking towards the little cop car, Hades opened the door to the driver's seat and was surprised to find Kore sitting snug in the aforementioned seat.

"Shouldn't you be back with your ma and the bunch?"

Kore' large doe eyes looked up at him innocently. "I don't know this city, so I thought I'd wait for you."

Hades rolled his eyes. "Sure, kid. Now move over, I'm driving, okay?"

The girl relented and moved to the passenger seat as Hades set himself down in the driver's. "Where are we going?"

"I'm going to go save my brothers." Hades rammed the keys into the ignition and started the car. "But _you,_ on the other hand are going to wait in here." After this step, the boy was as confused as anyone on how to drive this thing. Did Hermes pull this lever, did he set that stick into that position.

The girl began to giggle, watching Hades' hand float over each gear shift as he tried to decide how to move the car forward. "They said you didn't know how to drive."

Hades lifted an unamused eyebrow. "Who's they?"

Kore stared quizzically at the boy. "You mean, you can't hear them?" She pointed skeptically at his pin.

Not understanding what the girl was referring to, Hades stared at her quizzically. "You're a kooky kid, aren't you?"

"And you're a stupid teenager," she stuck her tongue out at him. "Do you want me to drive or not?" Kore quizzically huffed. Her magenta eyes narrowed in on him in that same stern look her mother had given him right before she sent him out.

"Now, how do you know how to drive?"

The girl smiled up at Hades, her face was like a pixie, but not because of her large eyes and wild, pretty blonde curls that framed her heart-shaped face; that honor belonged to the pure, manic grin that turned her into something more than just an innocent fairy. "Who do you think taught Hermes how to drive?"

* * *

Even in the bay area the smell of the sea was strong and the dock underneath him began to bend and roll under the sway of the rising tide and his approaching footsteps. Perambulating steadily on the old, withered dock, Charon inspected his boat and the rope that tied it down and kept it from escaping to the dark waters of the bay. With his eyes on the horizon, the sun had already set and with it all the remnants of light, plunging the already darkened world into an even greater darkness. The cloud cover that accompanied the thunderstorm had already done what they could to suppress the last few rays of sunshine, but now without any light trying to combat the gloom, the rickety man knelt down to light his many lanterns on his cargo vessel.

_Humph_, Charon nodded and took another puff of his cigarette. He needed to get to Heart Island before the tide _really_ came in, but the storm that had swept his docks had thrown him off schedule. Normally, he would've pressed onward, but the cargo today was especially high, and the smell that came with it, _well_…

Charon cast his watery gray eyes upon the mountain of corpses hidden underneath a heavy tarp, but some limbs always managed to poke through and now was no different as those creeping, rotting phalanges made their presence known to him. Decay was prevalent in the air, but no matter how many years he was around that smell; it still upset his stomach and threw it into disrepair whenever the wind changed and hit him square in the face. It's why he rarely ate anymore while at the docks. He didn't want to lose his lunch one more time.

Getting ready to cast off, Charon took his time to un-do the rope on the hook sticking out of the dock, but just as he was about to swing both his legs onto the deck of the boat, an encroaching vehicle being driven by a wild girl swept past him on the dock, narrowly missing him.

Charon watched as an older boy inside was screaming at a younger girl at the wheel, something was clearly going on, but before the police car drove off the dock, something like smoke swallowed up the pair. Before Charon understood what was happening that same column of smoke appeared in the same spot, but the car was further along now and the boy and girl were standing on the dock, watching the stolen cop car drive itself into the bay.

The boy exacerbated a heavy sigh and released the girl who had been driving from out of his hold. He passed a critical eye on the girl and exacerbated a tired glower. "I really hope you planned that, but hey, two birds, one stone not complaining."

Kore looked up at him with a confused, blank stare. "I thought we were returning it?"

"Heh, _no_," Hades laughed at the idea. "Then they'd really have evidence to indict me for- uh who knows, disturbing the peace, general lawlessness, depravity, hell, if I don't get you back to your ma, I might get charged for kidnapping."

Charon had seen a thing or two in his life. Were some of those induced by a night of drowning his sorrows when he was a lone on his little cargo ship- perhaps, but this was by far the strangest thing he had seen. And yet, there was something familiar about it, like a dream you once had, but forgot the moment you woke up. The ferryman quizzically watched the two and couldn't help but laugh, an old rickety sound that reminded the boy of a bag of bones.

"Hey, ferryman, you mind fitting two more?" The boy ignored the girl's words with a subtle roll of his eyes.

Charon softly shook his head. "If you were _dead_, I would, since I'm heading to the _morgue_ island," he exclaimed poignantly. "And I don't think it's a place for you and your sister," he eyed the strange pair. The two of them looked nothing like each other, almost as different as night and day, but to the ferryman why else would a teenager be trudging along with a young girl?

"I'm not his sister," the girl pouted, crossing her arms indignantly.

Hades passed her a cross glare, but once his gaze returned to Charon's he hid his uneasiness with a sordid grin. "-Ignore her. I'll make it worth your while," Hades quickly interjected, lifting two silver coins between his fingers as he maintained a poker face. "But can you sneak us instead on the other side of the bay- preferably the one where a one Mr. Titan lives?"

Charon greedily eyed the glinting coins with an interested appraisal. He barely got paid a dime and he easily did the work of five men, and the way things were going with a war going on, there was little he could do to get some extra cash. Holding open his hand, Hades got the message and tossed the coins into the waiting man's hand.

"Hop on."


End file.
